{"id":198790,"date":"2026-04-11T18:48:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan"},"modified":"2026-04-11T20:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:07:20","slug":"bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan","title":{"rendered":"Bashir Ahmad Defends INEC Chairman Amupitan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Bashir Ahmad, a former media aide to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has suggested that he is not defending the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Joash Amupitan, amid ongoing controversy over his alleged past partisanship conduct.<\/p>\n

Ahmad made the clarification on Saturday during an exchange on X with a user identified as @UpTownOfLagos.<\/p>\n

The user had questioned Ahmad\u2019s position, asking why he appeared to be defending what was described as \u2018indefensible\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it sad that even after this, you\u2019re still going further in your public defense of the now indefensible?,\u201d @UptownOfLagos wrote.<\/p>\n

In response, Ahmad stated: \u201cWait. I am not defending anything. If anything, the INEC Chairman will be the last person I will defend. I am only stating the obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, Ahmad had directed a query to X\u2019s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, seeking clarification on the history of a specific X account allegedly linked to Amupitan.<\/p>\n

He asked about the original username associated with an account created in September 2022, which was later linked to the handle \u201cjoashamupitan\u201d.<\/p>\n

Grok responded that the account was created on September 6, 2022, with the username \u201cjoashamupitan\u201d, and that there was no record of it being changed to that name in November 2025.<\/p>\n

It added that the account retained the username until April 10, 2026, when it was updated to \u201cSundayvibe00\u201d and subsequently locked amid controversy over posts from 2023.<\/p>\n

DAILY POST reports that the exchange comes amid calls by the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and some Nigerians for the resignation of the INEC chairman over allegations of partisanship.<\/p>\n

In a statement signed by its spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said a 2023 pro-Bola Tinubu social media post allegedly linked to the INEC chairman raises concerns about the credibility and neutrality of the electoral body.<\/p>\n

The ADC also alleged attempts to alter digital records to conceal past political affiliations, warning that such actions threaten transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n

The party maintained that an electoral umpire must not only be independent but also be perceived as impartial.<\/p>\n

The development has sparked debate across social media platforms.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Bashir Ahmad, a former media aide to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has suggested that he is not defending the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Joash Amupitan, amid ongoing controversy over his alleged past partisanship conduct. Ahmad made the clarification on Saturday during an exchange on X with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":198788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-198790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nBashir Ahmad Defends INEC Chairman Amupitan - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bashir Ahmad, a former media aide to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has suggested that he is not defending the chai ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bashir Ahmad Defends INEC Chairman Amupitan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bashir Ahmad, a former media aide to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has suggested that he is not defending the chai ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-11T17:48:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-11T19:07:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775934362.491964.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"690\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Bashir Ahmad Defends INEC Chairman Amupitan\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-11T17:48:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-11T19:07:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan\"},\"wordCount\":358,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775934362.491964.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/bashir-ahmad-defends-inec-chairman-amupitan\",\"name\":\"Bashir Ahmad Defends INEC Chairman Amupitan - 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