Angered by perceived flaws in Nigeria’s electoral process, Nigerian protesters accosted INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan outside Chatham House in London.
Amupitan had participated in a Thursday panel discussion at the British think tank titled “Nigeria’s 2027 elections: Democratic trajectory and regional stability beyond the vote.”
As the INEC chairman departed the venue following the event, demonstrators surrounded the black vehicle transporting him, demanding that he address alleged irregularities in Nigeria’s voter registration system ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Video clips spotted across social media captured demonstrators waving banners and recording the encounter amid a chorus of angry shouts and insults directed at the INEC chairman.
“Why are you running? Come out and talk to us,” some of the protesters can be heard saying.
“Call police for us. He needs to come out and talk to us, we don’t want to harm him. Shame on you.”
I never owned pro-Tinubu X account – INEC chairman
Professor Joash Amupitan further refuted allegations that he operated an X account allegedly created to back the All Progressives Congress and President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 general election.
He added that the matter has been formally reported to the Inspector-General of Police and the Department of State Services, noting that an independent report on the issue has already been obtained.
“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.
Backstory…
The confrontation in London comes after weeks of mounting scrutiny of INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, over alleged irregularities in Nigeria’s preliminary voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The commission faced public backlash following the circulation of records containing suspected AI-generated photographs, duplicate voter entries, names of deceased persons and questionable polling units.
Amupitan subsequently acknowledged irregularities in the registration process and announced an investigation into the affected records.
Read Also: INEC Deletes Over 1.6m Invalid Records From Voters’ Register Ahead of 2027 Elections
