By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu\u2019s appointment of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), describing it as a calculated move to manipulate the 2027 general elections in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).<\/p>\n
In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, HURIWA accused President Tinubu of appointing a loyalist to oversee the nation\u2019s electoral process ahead of 2027, saying the President\u2019s desperation to retain power \u201cat all costs\u201d has now been extended to the control of the electoral umpire.<\/p>\n
According to the rights group, intelligence available to it indicated that Prof. Amupitan, 58, law professor, a Yoruba man, who hails from Kogi State, was handpicked to protect the political interest of the President and the APC, describing him as \u201ca stooge of the President and a negotiated appointee already compromised before assumption of duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the intelligence at our disposal, this appointment is not about competence but control. The President, who is brutally desperate to remain in power in 2027, has chosen an ally who will do his bidding. It is now left for Prof. Amupitan to prove this wrong,\u201d HURIWA stated.<\/p>\n
The association said that with the manner of his emergence, Nigerians should not expect a free and fair election in 2027 unless the Electoral Act is urgently amended to make the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV) compulsory and backed by law.<\/p>\n
HURIWA recalled that the 2023 presidential election was \u201ctainted by irregularities\u201d and manipulated in favour of the APC, while the National Assembly polls were \u201crelatively credible\u201d because electronic accreditation and result transmission were applied. The group maintained that any future election conducted under a chairman installed by a \u201cdesperate incumbent\u201d would lack credibility.<\/p>\n
It also expressed concern over the ongoing defection of opposition lawmakers and elected officials to the APC, alleging that the moves were motivated by fear of persecution by anti-graft agencies acting as appendages of the Presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a President using every available state institution to weaken opposition parties. Many public officials are decamping to the APC believing it is the only safe haven against prosecution. This is a dangerous sign that the 2027 elections will not be free or competitive,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n
HURIWA further cited the growing display of Tinubu\u2019s 2027 campaign billboards nationwide as evidence of a \u201clawless and premature campaign culture\u201d that exposes the President\u2019s desperation to retain power at all costs, warning that such actions could lead to political unrest.<\/p>\n
The association therefore called on the National Assembly to expedite passage of electoral reform bills and ensure that the use of BVAS and IReV for result transmission is clearly provided in the law, not left to INEC\u2019s internal policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this president continues to interfere with the independence of INEC, and the 2027 elections are manipulated, the country risks widespread instability,\u201d HURIWA warned.<\/p>\n
The group urged Prof. Amupitan to demonstrate independence and transparency in his new role, saying Nigerians and the international community are watching to see whether he will rise above partisanship or reinforce fears that he is a political instrument in the hands of a desperate incumbent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu\u2019s appointment of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), describing it as a calculated move to manipulate the 2027 general elections in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4959,1026,3001,4958,4957,367,1349,888],"class_list":["post-7831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboards","tag-campaign","tag-independence","tag-instrument","tag-manipulate","tag-nationwide","tag-political","tag-transparency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7832,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831\/revisions\/7832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}