The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially dismissed viral claims linking Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN) to a partisan account on X, labeling the reports a “coordinated disinformation campaign.”
To verify the denial, the commission engaged a cybersecurity expert to conduct a forensic audit of the account’s activity.
The investigation, which utilized Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and digital archives, uncovered significant evidence of manipulation.
Most notably, a controversial reply attributed to the Chairman was timestamped 13 minutes before the post it allegedly answered—a feat INEC termed “technically impossible.”
Furthermore, the commission confirmed that the account in question, created in 2022, has no connection to the Chairman’s official or personal email addresses at Yahoo or the University of Jos.
The commission further noted that archival checks using the Wayback Machine showed no evidence of the handle @joashamupitan existing on X prior to April 2026, suggesting it may have been recently created or altered to impersonate him.
According to INEC, the controversy began on April 10, 2026, when screenshots began circulating online alleging partisan comments by the Chairman.
The commission said additional claims—including leaked phone numbers, OPay details, and BVN data were also fabricated to strengthen the narrative.
INEC has now categorised the viral content as “forensically unverifiable” and “technically impossible,” insisting that Prof. Amupitan does not operate any personal account on X.
It maintained that the materials were deliberately engineered to undermine the perceived neutrality of the electoral body amid ongoing political tensions.
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