Amupitan To Find Out What Went Wrong With IReV Portal During 2023 Presidential Election

 

Professor Joash Amupitan, the newly confirmed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has vowed to ensure true independence for the commission under his leadership.

Professor Amupitan made the vow in his presentation prior to his screening and confirmation by the Senate during plenary on Thursday.

Amupitan also vowed that he will carry out a comprehensive audit of INEC systems to find out what went wrong and what happened with the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the 2023 presidential election, which he said eroded the confidence of many people.

Prof. Amupitan was nominated for appointment as INEC Chairman by President Bola Tinubu during the last National Council of State meeting.

The National Council of State backed the nomination, paving the way for his screening and confirmation by the Senate.

While thanking President Tinubu as well as the National Council of State for his appointment, Amupitan said: “For me, this is a very important task of service to the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

He added: “we can also invest more in logistics to ensure that we can penetrate every part of Nigeria, even if we have to use drones with necessary safeguards, to ensure that those [election] materials reach those places, because no voter will be left behind”.

The Kogi-born legal luminary and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos (UNIJOS), also pledged to work with relevant agencies like the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to improve the electoral process.

After hours of screening, when Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the nomination of Amupitan to a voice vote during plenary in the upper chamber, the lawmakers responded in the affirmative.

“The nomination of Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN for appointment as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is, hereby, approved,” Senator Akpabio said thereafter.

Amupitan replaces Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who bowed out of the commission upon completion of his tenure, serving from 2015 till October 2025.