A Nigerian social media user, McDonald Anyanwu, has warned the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, that he may face greater consequences than his predecessor if the commission fails to conduct a credible 2027 general election.
Anyanwu made the remarks while reacting to the confrontation between Amupitan and Nigerians living in the diaspora outside Chatham House in London on Thursday.
The protesters reportedly surrounded the INEC chairman’s vehicle, demanding his resignation over alleged irregularities in the preliminary voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general election.
In a post on X, Anyanwu said former INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu would be the last electoral chief to survive public anger over allegations of manipulating a Nigerian presidential election.
“Mahmoud Yakubu is the last INEC chairman that survived after rigging the Nigerian presidential election. Amupitan, you shall not survive. #RigandDie2027 is a ballot revolution,” he wrote.
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The comments reflect growing public concerns over the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process, particularly following allegations of irregularities in the preliminary voters’ register released by INEC.
The controversy centres on suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs, duplicate registrations, unusual names and entries allegedly belonging to deceased persons.
Critics have also questioned the commission’s handling of the registration exercise and its preparedness for the 2027 polls.
Videos of Thursday’s protest in London showed demonstrators holding placards and shouting at Amupitan as he attempted to leave the Chatham House premises.
Some protesters accused INEC of favouring the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and demanded that the chairman step down, although the allegations of political bias have not been independently established.
The demonstration took place as Amupitan attended a discussion at Chatham House on Nigeria’s 2027 elections, democratic development and regional stability.
Speaking at the engagement, the INEC chairman acknowledged that the 2023 presidential election had created a significant trust deficit for the commission, adding that the electoral body had yet to fully recover from the damage to its public credibility.
He said INEC had identified weaknesses in the management and collation of election results and was introducing additional technical safeguards to prevent inaccurate results from being uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Amupitan also disclosed that the commission had removed 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records belonging to verified deceased voters during its ongoing voters’ register clean-up exercise.
He further said 54 persons across 10 states had been identified for disciplinary action, including possible prosecution, over alleged registration irregularities.
The INEC chairman also pledged not to accept any political or diplomatic appointment after leaving office, saying his appointment to lead the commission was based on public trust.
His position contrasts with that of Yakubu, who was nominated by President Bola Tinubu as a non-career ambassador to Qatar after completing his tenure as INEC chairman.
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