The Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) has launched the findings of a forensic investigation into an alleged X account linked to Prof. Joash Amupitan, its chairman.
In an announcement issued on Monday by Adedayo Oketola, the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, the fee stated the probe established that the account, @joashamupitan, didn’t belong to Amupitan and that each one related posts had been “fraudulent and a part of a coordinated disinformation effort”.
The controversy started on April 10 when screenshots circulated on-line alleging that the INEC chairman operated the account and posted a political remark, “Victory is bound”, allegedly in response to a different person.
The claims had been additional amplified with purported proof, together with emails, telephone numbers, {Bank} Verification Quantity (BVN) particulars and OPay information, which had been introduced by some social media customers as proof of possession.
Nevertheless, INEC stated it commissioned an impartial cybersecurity forensic staff to conduct a multi-layered digital investigation utilizing platform information, archives and open-source intelligence instruments.
In line with the report, “Prof. Amupitan does NOT function any private X (Twitter) account,” including that the alleged posts had been “fraudulent, technically not possible and digitally manipulated”.
The assertion additionally revealed that the disputed account underwent suspicious modifications on the identical day the screenshots went viral, together with a username change from @joashamupitan to @sundayvibe00 earlier than being set to non-public and later labelled a parody account.
“That is clearly a damage-control tactic by an impersonator searching for to get rid of a digital path,” Oketola stated.
INEC additional dismissed claims linking the account to the chairman’s e mail, telephone quantity or BVN, describing such assertions as baseless.
“The X platform would have confirmed linkage if any real affiliation existed. There isn’t a connection in any way,” the assertion added.
The fee additionally highlighted what it described as a vital inconsistency within the viral screenshots, noting that the alleged reply gave the impression to be timestamped earlier than the unique publish existed.
“The reply was proven 13 minutes earlier than the unique publish. That is bodily not possible and confirms the screenshots had been fabricated,” it stated.
INEC added {that a} reside search of the platform confirmed no proof that such posts ever existed, whereas additionally pointing to related impersonation makes an attempt throughout Fb and Instagram.
The fee stated the forensic report had been handed over to safety companies for additional investigation and prosecution below Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act, urging legislation enforcement to determine these behind the alleged coordinated disinformation marketing campaign.