Despite the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Chairman, Joash Amupitan’s denial of previous ties with President Bola Tinubu, fresh evidence shows his Yahoo mail and phone number are linked to the same X account that declared “victory is sure” for the All Progressives Congress in March 2023.

On Friday, Mr Amupitan through his spokesperson, Adedayo Oketola, issued a rebuttal on claims the INEC chairman was Mr Tinubu’s supporter, affirming he’s a neutral appointee, a requirement mandated by the constitution to protect the sanctity of the nation’s election space.

Mr Oketola in the statement claiming Mr Amupitan “does not own or operate any personal account on X. He has at no time engaged in partisan commentary, nor has he ever associated himself with any political leaning or activity in his private or public capacity.”

However, open-source intelligence (OSINT) findings appear to contradict the claim.

@joashamupitan tweeted “victory is sure” to reply a post by one of the APC leaders, Dayo Israel, announcing that the party had won seven of the 10 polling units in an opposition stronghold largely populated by Igbo voters.  

Further checks revealed that the account was registered using the email address amu***anj@yahoo.com — the same email listed on a curriculum vitae attributed to Mr Amupitan. The CV also included his former institutional email, amu***anj@unijos.edu.ng, from his time as a professor at the University of Jos.

To verify amu***anj@yahoo.com email address, Yahoo asked to send notifications to the linked phone number, 0803***4099, the same line linked to an Opay customer account with username “Joash Ojo Amupitan.”

Opay accounts usually comprise a customer’s phone number without the first zero. In this case, 8035074099, listed the account user as Joash Ojo Amupitan.

Contacted on Saturday by the Peoples Gazette for his reaction on the fresh findings, Mr Oketola said, “We stand by our statement. A statement was issued yesterday and that is our official position on the matter.”

That the X account registered with amupitanj@yahoo.com linked to a phone number bearing Mr Amupitan’s full name casts doubt on the INEC chairman’s claim he had no alliance with the APC nor Mr Tinubu, desperately seeking re-election in 2027.