When Professor Joash Amupitan arrived in Osun State last week, it was not for a routine inspection. Rather, he came carrying a question that has followed him since he was sworn in as INEC Chairman: can a man appointed by a sitting president remain genuinely neutral when that president’s party is on the ballot?
Amupitan was appointed by President Bola Tinubu, a fact his critics have never allowed him to forget. For them, the appointment itself is the first line of a story that ends in compromised elections. He has spent his tenure pushing back against that narrative, and the August 15 governorship election in Osun is where that pushback faces its most visible test.
Three specific controversies have sharpened the scrutiny around him.
In April 2026, critics alleged he operated a personal X account that had shared pro-APC content. He denied owning any social media account, calling the claims fabrications designed to undermine his office. More recently, the African Democratic Congress raised an alarm about a voter importation scheme, accusing INEC officials of facilitating the registration of voters from APC-controlled states including Lagos, Oyo, and Ondo in Osun ahead of the poll.
Amupitan has not retreated from those allegations. At a stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo on July 28, he stated plainly that INEC has no preferred candidate and that the commission’s only loyalty is to the Constitution. He commissioned a new INEC Decides Studio for transparent result transmission and personally inspected the secure storage facility for BVAS accreditation machines.
Whether those steps satisfy his critics will depend less on the preparations and more on what happens on election day itself. Osun’s incumbent, Governor Ademola Adeleke of the PDP, commands genuine popularity, which means any outcome that defies the polls will face immediate interrogation.