The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has alleged that a viral claim linking its chairman, Joash Amupitan, to a partisan tweet was designed to discredit him and undermine the credibility of the commission.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, made this assertion during an interview today.
According to him, the controversy surrounding the alleged post expressing support for the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general elections is part of a wider attempt to dent the image of the INEC chairman and the electoral body.
Bayode said the agenda is just to discredit Prof. Joash Amupitan so that they can discredit the work of the commission.
The alleged post had sparked reactions online, with some netizens and opposition figures calling for the resignation of the INEC chairman.
However, Bayode maintained that a forensic review indicated the tweet was fabricated, adding that a separate account using the same username was created in April 2026, further complicating the situation.
He suggested the incident could be linked to digital impersonation and content manipulation, warning that such practices could mislead the public.
Bayode also cautioned against over-reliance on artificial intelligence tools for verification, noting that systems like X’s AI assistant, Grok, can sometimes produce inaccurate outputs.
He urged the public to verify information before drawing conclusions, especially on sensitive matters involving public institutions.
