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Amupitan Must Go: Nigeria Cannot Trust a Referee Accused of Wearing APC Colours
Professor Joash Amupitan cannot continue to sit comfortably as INEC Chairman while serious questions hang over his neutrality. The office he occupies is not an ordinary appointment. It is the sacred seat of Nigeria’s electoral referee, and anyone who holds it must be above suspicion, above partisan loyalty, and above every shadow of political bias.
The concern around Amupitan is simple: Nigerians cannot be asked to trust an electoral umpire widely perceived by critics as sympathetic to the APC. An election is not credible only because INEC announces results. It is credible when citizens believe the process was fair before, during, and after voting. Once the referee is suspected of leaning toward one side, the entire contest is already poisoned.
The 2027 election is too important to be supervised by a man whose neutrality is being publicly questioned. Nigeria is already battling distrust, voter anger, institutional weakness, and fear of manipulation. INEC should be restoring confidence, not deepening suspicion. Amupitan must understand that public trust is the oxygen of democracy. Without it, even a technically conducted election becomes morally dead.
This is why the honourable path is clear. If Amupitan cannot convince Nigerians that he is fully independent, then he should resign immediately. No personal ambition, political loyalty, or institutional stubbornness should be placed above the survival of Nigeria’s democracy.
Nigeria needs a neutral umpire, not a controversial one. Amupitan must go.

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