By Segun Ojumu
A leading coalition of civil society organisations has issued a unanimous vote of confidence in the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, following calls for his resignation. The National Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN), representing around 1,000 NGOs, dismissed recent attacks on the Chairman’s integrity as “unwarranted” and “ill-motivated.”
The group’s executive director, Blessing Akinlosotu, told a Press Conference in Abuja on Monday that the Commission was simply upholding the rule of law regarding a leadership dispute within the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The row stems from a March 12 Court of Appeal ruling which forced INEC to de-recognise a faction led by Senator David Mark, returning the party to its previous leadership structure.
While critics have accused the electoral body of bias, the NCSCN insists the Commission is merely a “nominal party” obeying a judicial directive. The council warned that the internal friction within the ADC, born out of 2025 alliance arrangements, should not be weaponised to undermine democratic institutions or distract from the electoral reforms currently being implemented ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a stern warning to the wider civil society community, the council claimed it had received intelligence regarding plans to mobilise “rented” protesters for partisan warfare. Mr. Akinlosotu praised Professor Amupitan’s “rule of law first” approach and his efforts to tackle vote-trading through technological safeguards. Any organisation found participating in “protests of misinformation” would face de-affiliation from the national body, the council said, as it urged the aggrieved political factions to return to the courts rather than seeking “political solutions to legal problems.”
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