Lagos State’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Accord Party are calling on Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), the freshly sworn-in INEC Chairman, to shake things up in Nigeria’s election process. They want him to fix the lingering flaws that have made many lose trust in the voting system — and if he succeeds, he’ll be hailed as a democracy hero.
Both parties acknowledged that the former INEC boss, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave his best but fell short of what’s needed. Accord’s Dele Oladeji urged Amupitan to push for electoral law reforms and full electronic vote collation to stop manipulation. Yet, he questioned whether Amupitan could truly be independent, given his presidential appointment. Meanwhile, PDP’s Hakeem Olalemi expressed skepticism but encouraged Amupitan to prove doubters wrong by ensuring the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) works perfectly and by enabling electronic transmission of results to cut down fraud.
President Bola Tinubu officially swore in Amupitan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, charging him to protect election integrity and boost INEC’s capacity. Amupitan wasted no time, promising staff credible, free, and fair elections as he took over from Yakubu, who served two terms.
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