The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, was confronted by Nigerian protesters in London on Thursday over allegations of irregularities in the preliminary voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The protesters surrounded a vehicle conveying Amupitan as he arrived at Chatham House, where he was scheduled to participate in a discussion on Nigeria’s preparations for the next general elections.
The demonstrators, reportedly Nigerian diaspora activists based in the United Kingdom, accused INEC of compromising its neutrality and favouring President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
They called for Amupitan’s resignation and described the electoral commission as a “criminal organisation”, citing alleged duplicate voter registrations, artificial intelligence-generated photographs and questionable polling units in the preliminary register.
The protest followed growing criticism of INEC after images and records purportedly showing suspicious entries in the voters’ register circulated on social media. Some of the photographs were suspected to have been generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence.
The controversy gained further attention after INEC acknowledged irregularities in the registration process and announced an investigation into the affected records.
On November 9, Amupitan disclosed that the commission had removed 1,608,660 invalid registrations following a review of the 2025/2026 Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
He also announced the removal of 873 records belonging to verified deceased persons, bringing the total number of deleted entries to 1,609,553.
According to the INEC chairman, 54 individuals across 10 states had been identified as allegedly involved in registration irregularities and would face disciplinary measures, including possible prosecution.
He listed suspected multiple registrations, substituted photographs and violations of established registration procedures among the irregularities identified.
However, INEC maintained that some questionable entries circulating online originated from previous registration exercises dating back to 2011 and were not necessarily products of the latest exercise.
The demonstration also renewed discussions about the electoral commission’s independence, particularly following the diplomatic appointment accepted by Amupitan’s predecessor, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, after leaving office.
Yakubu was among 32 ambassadorial nominees submitted to the Senate by President Tinubu in November 2025 and was subsequently designated Nigeria’s non-career ambassador to Qatar.
Responding to concerns about whether he would accept a political or diplomatic appointment after his tenure, Amupitan pledged not to take up any such 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 the commission’s responsibilities.
As of the time of filing this report, there has been no official statement or reaction from INEC about the protest.
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