Political Tensions Rise Over INEC Chairman's Alleged Bias

2027 Election Watch, Breaking News, Politics

Amupitan Under Fire as ADC Vows Foreign Petitions

ADC says Amupitan must resign over alleged pro-Tinubu posts, while INEC denies the claims and calls them a malicious fabrication.

Atlantic Post

April 11, 2026

3–4 minutes

ADC, Bola Tinubu, Bolaji Abdullahi, Breaking News, INEC, Joash Amupitan, Nigerian Bar Association

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s electoral umpire is again in the eye of a political storm as the African Democratic Congress escalates its assault on the credibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof Joash Ojo Amupitan, with threats to petition foreign governments, the Nigerian Bar Association and other bodies over alleged partisan online activity.

The row comes at a sensitive moment for INEC, whose chairman was sworn in on October 23, 2025, and has repeatedly stressed that electoral credibility must remain “above reproach”.

At the heart of the controversy is a claim that an old X account tied to Amupitan surfaced with pro-Tinubu and pro-APC remarks from the 2023 election period.

Farooq Kperogi argued in a Saturday column that several “verifiable past tweets” showed partisan sympathy, including the brief exchanges “Victory is sure” and “Asiwaju”.

That allegation has now been weaponised by the ADC, which says the material strikes at the very foundation of electoral impartiality.

Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC’s national publicity secretary, has taken the fight far beyond rhetorical outrage.

In a statement posted on X and carried by multiple outlets, he said the party would update petitions to “foreign governments” and the NBA, while also renewing “civil disobedience” until Amupitan leaves office.

He described the alleged links as a “grave affront” to the integrity of the electoral system and insisted that the umpire cannot be seen to be wearing “the shirt of one of the teams” he is meant to referee.

INEC, however, has flatly rejected the story. Through its Chief Press Secretary, Adedayo Oketola, the commission said the allegation was “entirely baseless” and “a total fabrication”, insisting that Amupitan does not own or operate any personal X account and has never engaged in partisan commentary.

The commission also said cybercriminals have been using fake social media identities in the chairman’s name and warned Nigerians to rely only on verified INEC channels.

That denial is central, because the public dispute is no longer just about one alleged tweet. It has become a wider battle over digital evidence, identity, and credibility in a country where elections are frequently judged not only by law but by public trust.

Kperogi’s account claims the posts were traceable to an X profile that changed handles and later locked itself; INEC’s response is that the account is fake and part of a coordinated misinformation drive. At this stage, the claims remain publicly disputed rather than judicially tested.

The political temperature is rising because the Amupitan controversy is landing on top of a separate fight inside the ADC itself.

INEC’s portal currently lists the party’s national chairman, secretary and other officers as being in place “BY COURT ORDER”, a clear sign that the commission has been managing the party through a live leadership dispute.

THISDAY reports that the NBA has already warned lawyers, judges and the electoral umpire about interference in internal party matters, while also noting that INEC removed the David Mark-led ADC leadership from its portal pending court developments.

The wider context matters. Premium Times reported on Friday that the Federal High Court in Abuja fixed April 13, 2026, for judgment in a suit seeking to restrain David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as ADC national chairman and national secretary.

That means the party is fighting both inside the courtroom and outside it, and INEC has become the lightning rod for a broader struggle over who controls the opposition platform and who gets to define legitimacy.

For the moment, the political damage is already visible. ADC wants Amupitan out. INEC says the allegations are false. Kperogi says the digital trail points to partisan conduct. The NBA is being pulled into the dispute as a potential moral witness.

And with the 2027 election cycle already shaping up as a contest over trust, neutrality and institutional discipline, the real test is no longer only whether the tweet existed, but whether Nigeria’s electoral system can survive another credibility crisis without deepening public suspicion.