Dare Babalola
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on Sunday expressed support for President Bola Tinubu’s choice of Prof. Joash Amupitan as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
NNPP founder, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, stated that Amupitan has his work cut out for him and should hit the ground running once confirmed.
“The first task for Amupitan is to change the battered image of INEC and return the trust of Nigerians in the umpire. INEC’s image has been so eroded over the years that the first task before Amupitan is righting the wrongs by the commission and re-creating confidence in it,” he said.
Aniebonam emphasized that Amupitan needs to study the commission thoroughly and correct issues currently before it that the previous chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, ignored, noting that President Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council members must have seen Amupitan’s capacity before nominating him.
“What we need in Nigeria at the moment shall be leaders who can take informed and hard decisions, if we must reinvent the Nigeria of our dreams,” Aniebonam said.
The NNPP founder expressed disappointment over the previous INEC leadership’s actions, particularly regarding the party’s internal leadership crisis.
He added, “For the immediate past leadership of INEC to ignore subsisting court orders and directives to upload the NNPP new national executives was a shocker and very shameful to constitutional democracy.”
Aniebonam urged Amupitan to clear unattended matters, especially disobedience to court judgments, once confirmed. “Amupitan has the choice to either follow the path of past INEC chairmen or write his name in Diamond.”
The NNPP founder also highlighted the commission’s alleged misconduct, including changing the party’s logo and color without consent.
“It is still like a daydream to us that some bad eggs in INEC connived and changed the logo and colour of NNPP symbols without the consent of its founding members and holder of the original certificate of registration,” he declared.
Despite these concerns, Aniebonam assured that the NNPP would give the new INEC leadership maximum support. “The NNPP remained committed to joining President Tinubu to give the new INEC leadership maximum support, and prayed that Amupitan would not be distracted in carrying out his duties,” the party leader stated.
