Joash Amupitan’s baptism of fire
By Yahaya Etila
Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, is the recently appointed chairman of the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). He has set a record as the first INEC chairman who was enmeshed in a national controversy upon assuming office. He has dissipated more energy on justifying his suitability for the job, and also explaining that he is non-partisan and not sympathetic to the All-Progressive Congress (APC) above others. I am going to assume the contentious X handle belonged to the INEC chair. A post from his account predicted victory for the APC in the 2023 presidential election. What is wrong with that? At the time, he was a university don. He was not under any form of restrictions with regard to his political views and aspirations.
We are all partisan
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Those who blew this trumpet were mischievous. They succeeded in putting the INEC chairman on the spot. Have they not ever posted something on social media that later conflicts with their new position and interests? We are all partisan. It is in our DNA. The leaders of the opposition parties have won and lost elections in Nigeria. They all know there is always an interest to protect. They also know that INEC is the place where all political strategies begin and end. They were at some point beneficiaries of INEC’s “magnanimity”. It would be wishful thinking to think we can have a truly national, independent electoral commission. I am very frank. Let’s call a spade a spade.
What is the history of INEC, and which of its chairmen since 1999 has not been accused of partisanship? The opposition parties always have something to say, not necessarily out of conviction, but out of fear that their past will come around to haunt them. They were mostly products of this “magnanimity”. Why is Joash’s case different? I think he missed it when he tried to defend himself. If I were him, I would have taken ownership and simply stated that it was in my past before my appointment. And no law forbids those in academia from holding and expressing their political views. Is there also a law that bans Nigerians from holding and expressing their political views?
Even though the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2022 stipulate that the INEC Chairman and National Commissioners must be “non-partisan” and persons of “unquestionable integrity.” The INEC chairman is not a registered member of the APC, and as such, he has fulfilled a constitutional requirement. This is non-partisan. His integrity as a university don and administrator is unquestionable. He also fulfilled a second constitutional requirement. The last time I checked, our constitution is not based on assumptions. The fact that he made a social media post three years ago should be taken as a fact that he is partisan. This is not logical.
I think most times we dissipate energy on things that are not important. This is where I think some civil society groups get things wrong. It seems like their advocacy is based on popular demand and not on the strength of the issues. For example, a tech entrepreneur, Fisayo Durojaye, accused Prof. Amupitan of maintaining a “partisan social media presence” under an alias. He made it look like it was grave and a constitutional violation. The opposition parties and civil society groups went into a jamboree of ethical interpretations of the supposed revelation. The substance of their position was feeble, but successful because Prof. Amupitan panicked. I can make an excuse for him. He is new to the terrain, and a test for his resolve to write his name in the sands of time in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
This is what the opposition political parties have preoccupied themselves with. And some reputable civil society groups and NGO’s have run to town with this without pausing to reflect on the alleged action as either a violation of the electoral act or any other laws of the land. In recent times, it appears civil society groups see themselves as an extension of opposition parties rather than advocates for good governance, transparency and accountability. In Nigeria, opposition parties criticise why a bridge was not built where there is no river. And civil society groups would tag it as an infrastructure deficiency and run to town with it, forgetting that the area in question has no river and doesn’t need a bridge.
It is better to be simple.
I elected to address the controversies around the INEC chairman in a simple way. A lot of grammar has been written and said about the controversies. INEC has issued a report of a forensic audit into the claims linking the said X account to the INEC chairman. I read the statement and wasn’t impressed. I was rather impressed by an article authored by Dr Tunde Olusunle titled “ON JOASH OJO AMUPITAN”, and published in some of the major dailies. He argued that the INEC boss is a man of integrity. He wrote thus: “Amupitan promised us upon his inauguration that he intends to lead an INEC which will conduct the kind of elections which will be decided at the ballot, not the courtroom. I prayed Nigerians to believe him.” Does he deserve the benefit of the doubt? This should have been emphasised by INEC in its various responses.
Aside from a social media post, what other previous actions of his have violated the laws of the land? It was not a case of a recorded tape where he confessed to rigging the elections in favour of the APC. We should look at things from simple logic in most instances. I am writing this piece on the strength that even if he was the owner of the X account and indeed wrote the post. I wonder why a 2023 post that didn’t influence the outcome of the presidential election should be magnified and its author vilified. This, in my opinion, is the height of political mischief and a regime of civil society ignorance.
Mischief and ignorance
The INEC chairman made a post in 2023 urging the APC to victory. I am not aware if he was a member of any APC standing electoral committees during the elections. His known appointments were Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), University of Jos, and Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council at Joseph Ayo Babalola University. He could have made the social media post out of excitement for various reasons. This is permissible for humans. We all have our moments of hysteria. Maybe that was his moment, assuming he owned the account, and so what? The opposition outcry is mischievous. It is not ignorance. Let’s be frank, all INEC chairmen are humans and not robots.
Some were mischievous, and some were ignorant. And it reflected in their conduct. In my personal assessment of Prof. Joash Amupitan, he is a decent man who got caught up too early in the mischievous political environment of Nigeria. His transition from academia, where you are mandated to state issues empirically, to a regime where facts are given several political interpretations. The political world is a citadel of learning. Politicians don’t learn. They outsmart, and anything goes. I empathise with Prof. Joash Amupitan over his baptism of political fire. He should take it in good stride and focus his energy on delivering what he promised.
Yahaya Etila is a public affairs analyst and can be reached via Yahaya.etila@gmail.com.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, MAY 4TH 2026)
