INEC: In my time, losers’ll congratulate winners — Amupitan

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA- National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, yesterday, began his tenure connected a promising note, assuring that nether his watch, elections volition beryllium truthful credible that losers volition congratulate winners.

However, Amupitan said helium volition execute this with the enactment of applicable agencies similar the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and others.
He spoke successful the Senate earlier and aft the Senate confirmed his assignment by President Bola Tinubu arsenic INEC chairman.

“Our eventual extremity is to marque elections truthful credible that adjacent the loser volition beryllium capable to congratulate the victor successful bully religion conscionable arsenic a justice delivers judgement and some sides judge it arsenic just and just,” helium told the lawmakers portion answering a question.

Amupitan’s confirmation was sequel to the screening workout astatine the Senate, wherever the senators grilled the nominee of President Tinubu for 3 hours, asking him questions which helium answered.

After the grilling successful the Committee of the Whole, the Senate resolved backmost to plenary, wherever the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, asked if the confirmation was a existent reflection of the House, and the ayes’ effect was resounding.

Akpabio said Amupitan was approved without immoderate dissenting voice, and asked the INEC main to guarantee that each ballot counts successful aboriginal polls.

With the confirmation, Amupitan succeeded Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who served arsenic president of the electoral assemblage for 10 years and discontinue connected October 7.

Amupitan was allowed into the enclosure astatine 12.50pm, aft the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele(APC, Ekiti Central), moved that Order 12 beryllium acceptable speech to let strangers into the enclosure and it was seconded by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro(PDP, Benue South).

Before introducing himself to the Senators for question and reply league to instrumentality off, Senate President Akpabio said that the nominee had been cleared by the bureau of the Department of State Services, DSS, the National Security Adviser, NSA, and Inspector-General of Police, IGP aft vetting and finger-printing.

Answering bid of questions from the Senators, Amupitan, the Kogi-born Professor of Law among others said: “I did not pb the ineligible squad of the President astatine the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. I did not look astatine the Tribunal either astatine the Court of Appeal oregon astatine the Supreme Court.”
He besides said helium did not service arsenic portion of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, oregon Labour Party, LP, ineligible teams.

“I was not a subordinate of immoderate team,” Amupitan, who was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of University of Jos (UniJos) successful Plateau State said.

Credible polls

On his halfway predetermination job, Amupitan said: “Mr. President, distinguished Senators, the interest raised is so a large 1 and it reflects the interest of galore Nigerians. One of the archetypal things we indispensable bash astatine the committee is to found a credible interior mechanics to show the behaviour and behaviour of officials.”

Answering different question, helium vowed that helium volition behaviour an audit of the INEC results viewing (IReV) portal to code glitches that undermined nationalist assurance during the 2023, noting that the intent of the bimodal elector accreditation system, BVAS, and IreV, were to guarantee the integrity of elections, a extremity shared by predetermination technologies worldwide.

His words: “I judge what happened successful 2023 was subsumed arsenic a glitch. Before the election, my understanding, based connected a reappraisal of Supreme Court decisions, was that determination was nary clarity arsenic to the intent of IReV.”

The IReV portal was portion of the technologies introduced by the committee to amended the transparency of the electoral process.

INEC had assured Nigerians that polling portion results would beryllium uploaded to the portal real-time during the 2023 statesmanlike election, conscionable arsenic the portal remained inactive for an extended period, adjacent aft voting was concluded astatine immoderate polling units, prompting suspicion from galore Nigerians.

The INEC Chairman noted that the Supreme Court aboriginal clarified that IReV was not an physics collation system, a presumption that was not adequately communicated b...