Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has denied owning or operating an X account allegedly used to promote President Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general election.
Amupitan said the allegations had been reported to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Inspector-General of Police, adding that an independent report had also been obtained to establish the facts surrounding the disputed account.
The INEC chairman made the disclosure on Thursday during a dialogue at Chatham House in London, organised in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative.
The discussion was themed “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot” and focused on the country’s democratic future ahead of the next general election.
The controversy followed claims that an X account with the handle @joashamupitan belonged to the electoral commission chairman and had been used to show support for the APC during the 2023 elections. The account reportedly responded to a post by Dayo Israel, the APC national youth leader, celebrating the party’s victory in a predominantly Igbo community in Lagos, with the words, “Victory is sure”.
The allegation triggered questions about Amupitan’s political neutrality, particularly as he now heads the institution responsible for organising the 2027 general election.
INEC had previously rejected the claims, describing them as fabricated and part of an attempt to damage the reputation of its chairman and undermine confidence in the commission.
At Chatham House, Amupitan was asked whether an independent investigation had established that he was not behind the disputed account. He said: “We have an independent report, and the matter was also reported to the DSS as well as to the IG.”
“I never had an X account. I tried to get in touch with X, but there’s no way if you don’t have an account,” he said.
He added that some civil society organisations had also expressed interest in investigating the matter, while insisting that his personal email activities had never involved the disputed platform.
“I have my Yahoo mail. I check Yahoo mail. It was never my account. And that is the truth,” he said.
Amupitan also questioned the timing of the allegations, suggesting that they emerged as part of a wider attempt to discredit him following a court decision involving the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the interpretation of the status quo ante bellum order.
“Remember the background. That issue came up when the court ruled that ADC had an issue, and the concept of status quo ante bellum. I don’t want to go back into it. But at the same time, it came about that time,” he said.
He argued that attacking the credibility of the person leading INEC was a way of weakening public confidence in the entire institution, particularly as preparations for the 2027 elections gather momentum.
“The only way that people could bring down an institution was to say, ‘Oh, this person,’” he said.
“There were several accusations before then. For instance, that I was a member of the legal team of the president, that I said I went to school, but that is not true. They were investigated and discovered not to be true. So there were also investigations from DSS, from the police. And those things were not true,” he said.
Amupitan, however, expressed confidence in INEC’s preparations, assuring Nigerians that the commission was working towards delivering a general election that would earn public confidence.
He said the 2027 exercise would be one Nigerians would be proud of.
