The national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has demanded the resignation of Joash Amupitan, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr Abdullahi, in a post on X on Saturday, described the trending screenshots revealing Mr Amupitan’s alleged partisan tie with President Bola Tinubu as severely disturbing and a subversion of the country’s electoral system.

“The recent revelation linking a pro-Bola Ahmed Tinubu tweet of 2023 to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Amupitan, is not merely disturbing, it is a grave affront to the integrity of our electoral system,” Mr Abdullahi stated.

Faulting Mr Amupitan’s political ties, the ADC spokesman noted that an electoral umpire must be clearly impartial and unquestionably credible.

He stressed that such a prerequisite is the bare minimum required of any official to guarantee free and fair elections.

Mr Abdullahi stated that the INEC chairman’s alleged attempt to alter digital records and erase evidence of his previous partisanship raised concern.

“This is not a trivial matter. It is a calculated assault on truth and accountability. A man who manipulates records to save himself cannot be trusted to safeguard the mandate of millions,” the party spokesman said.

The spokesman said recent events and statements, and the latest being conclusive digital proof, showed that Mr Amupitan falls short of expected electoral standards.

“Over the past few days, it has been repeatedly revealed that Professor Amupitan, by his conduct, his utterances, and now by incontrovertible digital evidence, has fallen far below the standard expected of an electoral umpire,” Mr Abdullahi stated.

“The referee cannot be running around in the shirt of one of the teams he’s supposed to officiate in a match. This is why Professor Amupitan must resign. Anything less is an insult to the Nigerian people and a dangerous precedent for our democracy,” he added.

In light of the revelation, the ADC spokesman said the opposition party would update its petitions to all relevant institutions, including foreign governments and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

“We will also renew and escalate our civil disobedience action until the INEC Chairman leaves office,” he noted.

Earlier, the Peoples Gazette reported that fresh evidence confirmed that the INEC chairman’s Yahoo Mail address and phone number were linked to an X account that declared “victory is sure” for the All Progressives Congress in March 2023.

The uncovered handle, @joashamupitan, tweeted “victory is sure” in response to a post by an APC leader, Dayo Israel, which announced that the party had won seven out of 10 polling units during the 2023 general elections.