Former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and renowned human rights activist, Comrade Omoyele Sowore has expressed serious reservation in the ability of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan to be neutral in the conduct of elections in the country.
Sowore said his reservation is hinged on the fact that Professor Amupitan is being remotely controlled and dictated to by some powerful forces in Aso Rock Villa that appointed him and some of his key staff.
The activist who stated these in an interview with SYMFONI on Friday, February 20, 2026, Sowore questioned the administrative independence of the current leadership at the INEC, stressing that it is totally lacking.
Sowore claimed that the Chief of Staff and the official spokesperson of the INEC Chairman, Prof Amupitan were not independently chosen, but were appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inner circle.
Sowore specifically alleged that the influence of the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila is so visible and felt at INEC.
The activist, who is also the publisher of SAHARAREPORTERS, an online publication, said that as an investigative journalist, he found out that the professional histories of the aides to Amupitan revealed close ties to the current administration.
Sowore therefore tasked members of the public to conduct research on the previous roles of the appointed Chief of Staff and Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman to enable them have an appreciable understanding of the difficulties being faced by INEC Chairman with regards to his independence and expected neutrality.
In the words of Sowore; “There is too much executive overreach within INEC. Ask yourself who appointed his (Amupitan) spokesperson.
“Tinubu’s people appointed his spokesperson. Tinubu’s Chief of Staff appointed his Chief of Staff. I am an investigative journalist, and they have names. You can Google who they were with before now,” he insisted.
Professor Amupitan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, who succeeded Professor Mahmood Yakubu, assumed office as the chairman of INEC in October 2025.
The transition of Amupitan from the academia to the electoral body was initially hailed as a step toward real and needed electoral reform, but political observers are now casting doubts following what critics like Sowore pointed with regards to the staffing of his office by the presidency which being considered will seriously undermine INEC’s neutrality.
INEC recently confirmed February 20, 2027, as the date for the next presidential election.
