The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, was confronted by Nigerian protesters in London on Thursday over alleged irregularities in the preliminary voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The demonstrators surrounded a vehicle conveying Amupitan outside Chatham House, where he was scheduled to participate in a discussion on Nigeria’s preparations for the next general elections.
The protesters accused INEC of compromising its neutrality and favouring President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). They also demanded Amupitan’s resignation, describing the electoral commission as a “criminal organisation”.
Among the issues raised were alleged duplicate voter registrations, photographs suspected to have been generated using artificial intelligence and questionable polling units in the preliminary register.
The demonstration followed public criticism of INEC after images and records purportedly showing suspicious entries in the voters’ register circulated on social media.
The controversy intensified after the commission acknowledged irregularities in the registration process and announced an investigation into the affected records.
On November 9, Amupitan disclosed that INEC had removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations following its review of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
The commission also deleted 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons, bringing the total number of removed entries to 1,609,553.
Amupitan further said 54 persons across 10 states had been identified as allegedly involved in registration irregularities and would face disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution.
He listed the suspected violations to include multiple registrations, substituted photographs and breaches of established registration procedures.
INEC, however, maintained that some questionable entries being circulated online originated from previous registration exercises dating back to 2011 and were not exclusively linked to the latest exercise.
The protest also renewed concerns about the independence of the electoral commission, particularly following the diplomatic appointment of Amupitan’s predecessor, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
Yakubu was among 32 ambassadorial nominees forwarded to the Senate by President Tinubu in November 2025 and was subsequently designated as Nigeria’s non-career ambassador to Qatar.
Addressing concerns about the possibility of receiving a political or diplomatic appointment after his tenure, Amupitan pledged not to accept such an offer, saying it could undermine public confidence in his neutrality.
“I’m not going to accept any appointment from anybody because coming to serve here is based on trust,” he said during the Chatham House discussion.
He maintained that his position required him to demonstrate impartiality in carrying out his responsibilities.
The INEC chairman also disclosed that the commission was introducing additional technical safeguards to prevent inaccurate election results from being uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal during the 2027 elections.
He said the measures were intended to strengthen the credibility of the electoral process and address concerns surrounding electronic transmission and the publication of polling unit results.
The London demonstration came amid continued demands by political stakeholders and civil society organisations for greater transparency and accountability from INEC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
