Dare Babalola
The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly condemned remarks credited to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, expressing doubts about the reliability of technological innovations in ensuring credible elections in Nigeria.
Amupitan spoke at the annual National Stakeholders Forum on Elections, organized by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, with the theme “Securing Nigeria’s Democracy: Building Consensus for Credible Elections and Accountable Governance.”
Media reports quoted him expressing concerns about technology’s effectiveness in ensuring the legitimacy of Nigeria’s democracy.
Responding to the INEC boss, the Osun State PDP Chairman, Hon. Sunday Bisi, in a statement on Saturday, described Amupitan’s comments as careless, unguarded, and loaded with meanings that could undermine expectations of a credible election.
“As a body in charge of conducting and supervising elections in Nigeria, the Osun State Chapter of PDP is of the strong conviction that such a statement by Prof Amupitan was not only careless, unguarded but unfortunate at this time. We view it as tantamount to preparing ground for rigging in the coming elections in Nigeria, which, will at best not be welcomed not only by all Nigerians but lovers of democracy all over the world,” Bisi said.
The PDP further called on Amupitan to retract his statement and apologise to Nigerians and the international community, emphasising that technology, backed by the Electoral Act 2022, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), is key to achieving free, fair, and transparent elections.
The statement added, “As Nigeria’s new INEC boss, Prof Amupitan should be reminded that the whole essence of investing heavily on technology is for the technology to deliver the wishes of all Nigerians. If there are seeming fears and lapses technology-wise, it then behoves on a body like INEC to ensure that such perceived obstacles are given the necessary attention and corrections to checkmate what would affect the credibility of the coming elections in Nigeria.
“Technology is and should be seen and regarded as the best way. We urge Prof. Amupitan to withdraw such comments forthwith and ensure that all technological devices meant to enhance the credibility of all elections serve their purposes.”
