INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan Faces Mounting Pressure Over Alleged Partisan X Account

Nigerians have zeroed in on what they say is clear proof linking Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, to an old X account that openly backed the All Progressives Congress and President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2023 polls.

The handle @joashamupitan, created in 2022, was changed to @Sundayvibe00 last week after old pro-APC tweets surfaced. The account was promptly protected and tagged a parody page, but the move only intensified public scrutiny.

Using information straight from Amupitan’s publicly available CV, netizens tried the “forgot password” option on X. They entered his listed email and phone number, and the platform showed partial recovery details that matched exactly.

NaijaChoice News gathered that further checks were carried out through bank transfers. When the phone number was tested on Opay and GTBank, the beneficiary name that popped up was “Joash Ojo Amupitan,” tied to BVN records.

Truecaller also displayed the number as “Joash Ojo Amupitan (Prof),” adding another layer of confirmation that lined up with his CV and academic profile.

Messages urging resignation were fired to the email address linked to the account and his university records. That email has now been disabled.

Calls and text messages to the phone number followed until the line was switched off. Nigerians then switched tactics, sending ₦1 and ₦10 transfers to his Opay and GTBank accounts with clear instructions in the narration field: “Resign.”

The unusual protest is said to be padding the chairman’s bank balances even as it delivers a loud message of disapproval.

Professor Amupitan has denied owning or operating the account. A statement from his media aide described the claims as “entirely baseless” and “a fabrication.”

Yet the weight of the evidence and growing public anger have kept the pressure high. Political observers and groups like the African Democratic Congress insist the only way to restore confidence in INEC is for Amupitan to step down or, at the very least, come clean about any past partisan ties before assuming office as electoral umpire.