The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has denied owning or operating an X account allegedly used to support President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general election.
Amupitan said the allegation had been reported to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the office of the Inspector-General of Police. He also disclosed that an independent investigative report had been obtained.
He spoke on Thursday at a dialogue organised in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative at Chatham House in London. The event was themed “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot.”
Asked whether an independent investigation had established that he was not behind the disputed account, the INEC chairman said the matter had been referred to the relevant security agencies.
“We have an independent report and the matter was also reported to the DSS as well as to the IG,” he said.
Amupitan insisted that he had never operated an X account, adding that his attempt to contact the platform to address the allegation was unsuccessful because he was not a registered user.
“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 also said some civil society organisations had indicated an interest in investigating the matter.
Reiterating his denial, Amupitan said he regularly used Yahoo Mail rather than X.
“I have my Yahoo mail. I check Yahoo mail. It was never my account. And that is the truth,” he said.
The INEC chairman suggested that the controversy emerged as part of an effort to damage his reputation and weaken the electoral commission. He linked its timing to a court ruling 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 attempts to undermine the commission could be directed at its leadership.
“The only way that people could bring down an institution was to say, ‘Oh, this person,’” he said.
Amupitan also rejected other allegations previously made against him, including claims that he was part of President Tinubu’s legal team and had misrepresented his educational qualifications.
He said investigations by the DSS and the police had found 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 said.
The INEC chairman expressed confidence in the commission’s preparations for the 2027 general elections, assuring Nigerians that the forthcoming polls would be an exercise they could be proud of.