By Saidu Abubakar
It was outside Chatham House, London, St. James’s Square, where the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan was scheduled to be speaking at a panel hosted by Chatham House – Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI). The topic was “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot”.
Protesters – Nigerian diaspora activists mobilised on social media and gathered outside the venue. As his vehicle was leaving/arriving, they surrounded the car, banging, shouting, blocking it from moving for a while as shown in a video circulating on Instagram and YouTube, where they were heard shouting: “INEC is a criminal organisation!”; “Resign! Resign!” Apparently accusing Amupitan of favouring Tinubu/APC and alleging him of plotting to rig 2027.
Reports said that he was not beaten or hospitalised. He still went inside and did the programme.
Why they were protesting, their complaints, as reported included: 1. Preliminary voter register duplicate entries, AI-generated images, alleged fake polling units; 2. Trust deficit from 2023 — IReV failure/collation issues; 3. Amupitan himself — his neutrality questioned, after social media linked his phone number to a controversial X account. He denies ever operating an X account, says forensic report done, matter referred to DSS and Inspe tor-General of Pilice.
INEC’s own response before London: They claimed they had already removed 1.6 million invalid records from the register, including AI-manipulated images, and flagged 54 officials across 10 states.
What Amupitan said inside Chatham House, after the protest included using the panel to try to rebuild trust.
“Trust me, I won’t fail you” — promised free, fair, credible 2027. He admitted 2023 “significantly affected public confidence in INEC” and the Commission still hasn’t recovered.
New IReV safeguard: “If a result is not accurate at the polling unit, it will not go to IReV at all” — to block fake and over-voting results.
Said post-2023 audit found the core problem was collation centres, not polling units. Therefore announced a nationwide mock accreditation/voting on November 28, 2026 to test BVAS and transmission.
On appointments: “I’m not going to accept any appointment from anybody” after INEC — direct contrast to predecessor Mahmood Yakubu, who was nominated as ambassador to Qatar after 2023. Amupitan said his job is based on trust and oath of neutrality.
No credible report of Amupitan being physically attacked or injured. The YouTube titles saying “attacked” have been exaggerative — the mainstream reports say heckled and surrounded.
It’s the same pattern as 2021 – Buhari in London — diaspora protest followed Nigerian officials abroad because they can’t protest that way back home.
