Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party’s candidate for president in 2023, is worried about the honesty of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, if it turns out that an alleged š¯•¸ account linked to him is really his.
Adebayo talked about the account’s problems on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. He said that the problems go beyond technical issues and have to do with people’s trust in the electoral body.
The former presidential candidate said that if the account can be linked to the INEC chairman, it could raise serious questions, even though he denies it.
Adebayo said, “If it can be traced back to him and he denies it, then it raises questions about integrity.”
He went on to say that the issue was important because people need to trust the electoral umpire for it to be credible.
Adebayo said that even though digital content can be changed, there are ways to check who owns an online account.
He said, “It is well known that in the digital space, you could manipulate anything, but there is forensic tracing of identity.”
He said that the issue could be settled through the courts or the legislature.
He went on to say, “Either someone will go to court to challenge his qualification on the grounds of partisanship and present evidence, or the National Assembly will look into it, possibly through its INEC committees.”
The SDP leader, on the other hand, made it clear that even if it could be proven that the account belonged to Amupitan, it would not automatically disqualify him from being INEC chairman.
He said that the law only says that the person can’t be a member of a political party when they are appointed.
Adebayo also said, “The requirement is that you should not be a member of any political party when you are appointed.” It doesn’t mean you couldn’t have been a member before or that you didn’t vote.
“Someone who voted in 2023 could still be the INEC chairman in 2025.”
Adebayo said that the main point is still honesty and the public’s trust in the election process.
He went on to say, “If you are already lying to the public about something as simple as this, and we are supposed to trust you to decide the outcomes of elections, then it becomes a matter of integrity.”
