I by no means owned, operated pro-Tinubu X account, says Amupitan

Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says he by no means owned or operated an X account allegedly used to precise assist for the All Progressives Congress (APC) throughout the 2023 common election.

Amupitan additionally mentioned the controversy had been reported to the Department of State Services (DSS), and the workplace of the Inspector-General of police, including that an impartial report on the topic has been obtained.

He spoke on Thursday throughout a dialogue at Chatham House in London, organised in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative, with the theme, “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot”.

BACK STORY

The controversy stemmed from allegations that an X account bearing the deal with @joashamupitan belonged to the electoral chief and had expressed assist for the APC throughout the 2023 common election.

The account reportedly replied to a submit by Dayo Israel, the APC nationwide youth chief, celebrating the occasion’s victory in a predominantly Igbo group in Lagos, with the phrases, “Victory is sure”.

INEC had, nevertheless, dismissed the claims, describing them as fabricated and a part of an try to undermine the credibility of its chairman and the fee.

The controversy had additionally drawn feedback from Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who defended Amupitan towards allegations of political bias.

Speaking on the inauguration of the company headquarters of the National Revenue Service in Abuja, Akpabio mentioned the phrase “Victory is sure” didn’t expressly point out assist for any political occasion.

‘I DON’T HAVE X ACCOUNT’

Responding to a query on whether or not an impartial investigation had established that he was not behind the account, Amupitan mentioned: “We have an independent report, and the matter was also reported to the DSS as well as to the IG.”

The INEC chairman insisted that he had by no means operated an X account, explaining that his makes an attempt to contact the social media platform to deal with the allegation have been unsuccessful as a result of he was not a consumer.

“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 mentioned.

He added that some civil society organisations additionally indicated curiosity in investigating the allegation.

“I have my Yahoo mail. I check Yahoo mail. It was never my account. And that is the truth,” he mentioned.

Amupitan prompt that the controversy was a part of makes an attempt to discredit him and undermine the electoral fee, linking its emergence to a court docket ruling in regards to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the interpretation of the established order 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 mentioned.

He added that the allegations have been supposed to weaken public confidence within the fee by concentrating on its chairman.

“The only way that people could bring down an institution was to say, ‘Oh, this person,’” he mentioned.

The INEC chairman additionally dismissed different allegations beforehand made towards him, together with claims that he was a member of President Bola Tinubu’s authorized staff and that he had made false claims about his instructional background.

He mentioned investigations by the DSS and the police discovered the allegations to be unfounded.

“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 mentioned.

Amupitan expressed confidence within the fee’s preparations for the 2027 common election, saying the train could be one Nigerians could be happy with.