New Electoral Chief Amupitan’s Credible Election Pledge Sparks Responses

The recently confirmed president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has said that elections volition beryllium credible nether his watch, with losers congratulating the winners.
Amupitan whose information for the apical electoral occupation the Senate connected Thursday, pledged to reconstruct integrity and nationalist assurance successful Nigeria’s electoral system.

He said his extremity is to marque elections truthful transparent that “the loser volition congratulate the winner.”
Speaking earlier his confirmation astatine the Senate Committee of the Whole yesterday, Amupitan outlined a broad betterment program that includes mounting up an interior ethical committee, introducing a whistleblower policy, enforcing accountability wrong the Commission, and deploying exertion — including drones — to amended predetermination logistics and security.

Expectedly, reactions person trailed Amupitan’s statements successful the people of his screening.
Civil nine organisations, including Yiaga Africa and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD, West Africa), said clip volition beryllium whether oregon not Amupitan tin guarantee the electoral committee is genuinely independent.

Other organisations, similar the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), urged him to beryllium bold and not beryllium swayed by the antics of the governmental class.

I volition guarantee trust, ethical behaviour successful INEC – Amupitan

Responding to lawmakers’ questions astir corruption, electoral credibility, and logistics, Amupitan stressed that spot and ethical behaviour would beryllium the cornerstone of his leadership.

“I deliberation that is simply a large concern. We volition enactment retired an interior mechanics to effort the behaviour of humans,” helium said.

“I’m taking this presumption connected trust, and my radical indispensable admit that they clasp their positions connected spot arsenic well. We volition acceptable up an ethical committee to reappraisal what happened due to the fact that radical person reported, and thing was done. We volition prosecute each ailment and travel through.”

He further revealed plans to collaborate with the National Assembly connected the projected Electoral Offences Commission to guarantee that electoral violations are appropriately investigated and sanctioned.

“We volition enactment with the National Assembly due to the fact that determination volition beryllium a request for legislative involution connected an Electoral Offences Commission to analyse cases, adjacent if we request to usage forensic means to bash that. We volition present a whistleblowing argumentation to exposure specified practices,” Amupitan explained.

On the contented of predetermination security, Amupitan said INEC nether his enactment would instrumentality innovative steps to guarantee that nary elector is disenfranchised, adjacent successful hard-to-reach areas.

“Security is simply a large challenge. We volition enactment with the information committee to fortify those areas. We volition put successful logistics to guarantee we penetrate each parts of Nigeria — adjacent if we request to usage drones. No elector volition beryllium near behind; that volition beryllium our policy,” helium stated.

The instrumentality prof besides emphasised the value of elector and civic acquisition successful deepening antiauthoritarian values.

“There’s going to beryllium elector acquisition and civic education. We volition physique the capableness of each predetermination stakeholders and embark connected assertive civic education,” helium said.

Addressing the contentious contented of real-time transmission of results, Amupitan said the substance required legislative clarity, noting that helium would lend his expertise to assistance fortify the Electoral Act.

He further promised that predetermination timelines and procedures would beryllium streamlined to region ambiguities and guarantee credibility.

“The timeline contented volition beryllium streamlined, truthful there’s nary ambiguity. We volition guarantee that elections are credible truthful the loser volition congratulate the victor and say, ‘You won.’ We volition besides analyse the information of predetermination materials,” Amupitan pledged.

The INEC president nominee besides vowed to uphold transparency successful fiscal absorption wrong the commission.

“This Parliament has capable laws connected procurement and absorption of nationalist funds; they volition beryllium enforced strictly to utilise funds for their intended purposes. We tin besides prevention funds wherever possible,” Amupitan said.

Amupitan further pledged to behaviour a broad audit of the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) to place and code the method issues that undermined nationalist assurance during the 2023 wide elections.

He said the audit would assistance find the quality of the glitches that affected the real-time transmission of results and measure the existent capableness of INEC’s electoral exertion systems.

“I person to audit the system, if I’m fixed the opportunity, to spot what is really incorrect and whether we person what it takes, arsenic it is now,” Amupitan said.

He expl...