A UK-based Nigerian lawyer has alleged that a small group of demonstrators who confronted the head of Nigeria’s electoral commission outside a London think tank were paid to stage the protest. Protesters surrounded the vehicle of Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), outside Chatham House on Thursday, calling for his resignation over alleged irregularities in Nigeria’s voter roll.
In a statement on Friday, lawyer Dayo Babalola—who said he attended the event—dismissed social media narratives portraying the demonstration as a mass backlash by Nigerians living abroad. “Those involved in the incident were not a representation of Nigerians in the diaspora, nor were they a reflection of the audience that attended the event,” Mr. Babalola said, estimating the crowd at just 10 to 15 people.
Dispute over what happened outside
Prof. Amupitan had been speaking at a Chatham House panel on Nigeria’s democratic trajectory and preparations for the 2027 general elections. Videos shared widely online showed demonstrators blocking his car as he left the venue, accusing the commission of compromising its independence. Mr. Babalola said the confrontation occurred only after the formal discussion had ended, insisting that the INEC chairman was neither interrupted nor “disgraced” during the session, which he said drew nearly 200 in-person attendees and more than 370 online participants. According to the lawyer, some demonstrators wore memorabilia linked to opposition figure Peter Obi, and the group dispersed after Chatham House security intervened and called the police. He further claimed that he later saw members of the group on nearby Jermyn Street being paid by a man wearing New Democratic Congress (NDC) merchandise. Africa Eye News has not independently verified the allegation that the protesters were paid. “There is a clear distinction between a legitimate protest and an attempt to manufacture a narrative for political propaganda,” Mr. Babalola added, saying he was visible in the circulating footage near the building’s main entrance.
While affirming citizens’ right to peaceful protest, he warned against attributing the actions of a handful of people to the wider diaspora.
Mounting scrutiny ahead of 2027
The London demonstration highlights growing political tension in Nigeria ahead of next year’s general elections, with opposition parties and civil society groups scrutinising the credibility of the electoral roll. INEC recently announced that it had deleted more than 1.6 million invalid entries—including 873 records belonging to deceased individuals—following an audit of its 2025–2026 continuous voter registration exercise, and identified 54 people across 10 states over alleged registration infractions.
During Thursday’s event, Prof. Amupitan defended the commission’s preparations, pledging to introduce new technical safeguards for result transmission and stating that he would not accept any political or diplomatic appointment after leaving office.
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