The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has denied owning or operating an X account allegedly used to express support for President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general election.
Amupitan disclosed that the controversy surrounding the account had been reported to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the office of the Inspector-General of Police, adding that an independent investigative report had also been obtained.
The INEC chairman spoke on Thursday at a dialogue organised by Chatham House in London in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative. The event was themed, “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot.”
Responding to a question about whether an independent investigation had established that he was not behind the account, Amupitan said the matter had been referred to the relevant security agencies.
“We have an independent report and the matter was also reported to the DSS as well as to the IG,” he said.
He maintained that he had never operated an account on X, formerly Twitter, explaining that his attempt to contact the platform over the allegation was unsuccessful because he was not a registered user.
“I never had an X account. I tried to get in touch with X, but there’s no way if you don’t have an account,” he said.
Amupitan also said some civil society organisations had expressed interest in investigating the allegation.
Insisting that the disputed account was not his, he added: “I have my Yahoo mail. I check Yahoo mail. It was never my account. And that is the truth.”
The controversy centres on an X account bearing the handle @joashamupitan, which reportedly responded to a 2023 post by former APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel, celebrating the party’s electoral performance in a predominantly Igbo community in Lagos.
The response, which read “Victory is sure”, was subsequently circulated online and attributed to Amupitan, triggering questions about his political neutrality as head of the electoral commission.
INEC had earlier rejected the allegation. In a statement issued on April 10, 2026, the chairman’s Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser, Adedayo Oketola, said Amupitan did not own or operate a personal X account and described the claims as fabricated.
The commission also raised concerns about fraudulent accounts allegedly created in the chairman’s name to mislead or defraud members of the public. It said it was working with security agencies and cyber-intelligence units to identify those responsible.
However, an investigation published by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) on April 20 examined digital information associated with the disputed account.
The report found similarities between partially masked email addresses and a phone number displayed during the account-recovery process on X and contact details publicly associated with Amupitan.
The ICIR, however, cautioned that these similarities did not conclusively establish who operated the account. It noted that definitive verification would require access to platform records, including login histories, IP addresses and device information, which were not publicly available.
The competing claims have raised concerns about the need for transparency and credible verification, particularly as INEC prepares for the 2027 general elections.
Public confidence in the electoral commission depends not only on its ability to conduct elections but also on the perceived independence and impartiality of its leadership.
Amupitan suggested that the controversy was part of an attempt to discredit him and weaken the institution, linking its emergence to developments surrounding a court ruling involving the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the interpretation of a status quo ante bellum order.
He also dismissed previous allegations that he had been part of President Tinubu’s legal team and had made false claims about his educational background, saying investigations by the police and DSS had found the claims to be unfounded.
The INEC chairman expressed confidence in the commission’s preparations for the 2027 elections, saying he believed the forthcoming polls would be an exercise Nigerians would be proud of.