ADC Demands INEC Chairman Amupitan's Resignation, Threatens Civil Disobedience

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has publicly called for the resignation of Professor Joash Amupitan, the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The opposition party's demand follows fresh allegations concerning the INEC chairman, who has been previously criticized by the ADC.

Professor Amupitan has found himself under scrutiny due to purported old tweets that suggest a bias towards the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). In response to these allegations, Adedayo Oketola, the INEC Chairman's Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser, issued a statement warning about impersonators and cybercriminals spreading false information. Oketola reiterated INEC's commitment under Amupitan to conducting elections that are free, fair, and credible, advising the public to rely only on official communication channels.

However, the controversy gained significant momentum after a column published by US-based Nigerian scholar, Farooq Kperogi. Kperogi alleged that archived posts from an X account linked to Amupitan exhibited sentiments favouring the APC, including statements perceived as supportive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Kperogi argued that such alleged posts compromised the neutrality expected of the electoral commission and urged the INEC chairman to step down.

The scholar's publication sparked widespread debate across social media platforms, with Nigerians expressing divided opinions regarding the authenticity of the older tweets. In his reaction on Saturday, Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the ADC, stated that the alleged pro-Bola Ahmed Tinubu tweet from 2023 linked to Professor Amupitan was not just disturbing but represented a serious assault on the integrity of Nigeria's electoral system.

Abdullahi emphasized that an umpire in a democracy must be impartial and demonstrably independent, as this is the fundamental requirement for conducting credible elections. He further expressed concern over what he described as a deliberate effort to manipulate digital records and conceal past partisanship, calling it a calculated attack on truth and accountability.

"A man who manipulates records to save himself cannot be trusted to safeguard the mandate of millions," Abdullahi stated. "Over the past few days, it has been repeatedly revealed that Professor Amupitan, by his conduct, his utterances, and now by incontrovertible digital evidence, has fallen far below the standard expected of an electoral umpire. The referee cannot be running around in the shirt of one of the teams he’s supposed to officiate in a match."

Consequently, Abdullahi declared, "This is why Professor Amupitan must resign. Now. Anything less is an insult to the Nigerian people and a dangerous precedent for our democracy. Relying on this evidence, ADC will be updating our petitions to all relevant institutions, including to foreign governments and the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA. We will also renew and escalate our civil disobedience action until the INEC Chairman leaves office."