By Clement Abayomi
The spokesperson of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has called for the immediate resignation of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan, over allegations of political bias linked to a 2023 social media post.
Abdullahi made this call on Saturday in a statement shared on his Facebook page, where he said the issue raises serious concern about the credibility of the country’s electoral system.
He said that the discovery of a past tweet believed to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has brought the neutrality of the INEC chairman into question.
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An electoral umpire, Abdullahi stated, must remain neutral at all times and must also be seen by the public as neutral.
“In a democracy, the umpire must be above suspicion. He must not only be independent, he must be seen, beyond any reasonable doubt, to be independent,” he said.
He also said that the matter became more serious due to claims that there was an attempt to alter or remove digital records linked to the chairman’s past statements. Abdullahi described this as a direct attack on truth and accountability.
“This is not a trivial matter. It is a calculated assualt on truth and accountability. A man who manipulates records to save himself cannot be trusted to safeguard the mandate of millions,” he stated.
Abdullahi said that recent findings, including public statements and online evidence, show that Amupitan has not met the standard expected of someone in charge of conducting elections. He used a simple comparison to explain his point.
“The referee cannot be running around in the shirt of one of the teams he’s supposed to officiate in a match,” Abdullahi said.
Based on these claims, the party has insisted that the INEC chairman should step down immediately to protect the integrity of the electoral body and the country’s democracy.
Abdullahi also disclosed that the ADC plans to take further steps on the matter. He said the party will update its petitions and submit them to relevant institutions, including the Nigerian Bar Association and some foreign bodies.
He noted that the party will continue and intensify its civil actions until the chairman leaves office.
“Now. Anything less is an insult to the Nigerian people and a dangerous precedent for our democracy. . . . We will . . . renew and escalate our civil disobedience action until the INEC Chairman leaves office,” he said.
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