- INEC cleared chairman over fake social media posts
- Forensic report confirmed posts were fabricated and impossible
- Commission warns against spreading disinformation online
The Independent National Electoral Commission has defended its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, stating that forensic investigations have confirmed that social media posts attributed to him were fabricated.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that in a statement issued on Monday by the Chairman’s Chief Press Secretary, Adedayo Oketola, the commission maintained that Amupitan does not own or operate any account on X or any other social media platform.
“The independent forensic investigation report conclusively establishes that Prof. Amupitan does NOT operate any personal X account. All the alleged posts are fraudulent, forensically unverifiable, technically impossible, and part of a coordinated disinformation,” the statement read.
INEC said both internal reviews and independent forensic checks confirmed that the Chairman has no digital presence on the platform, despite widespread circulation of posts allegedly linked to him.
“After discovering the disinformation, Prof. Amupitan, through his Chief Press Secretary, issued an official statement to debunk the falsehood and clearly stated that he had never owned or operated an X account,” the statement added.
The commission disclosed that a forensic analysis revealed inconsistencies in the viral claims, including timestamp discrepancies.
“Timestamp analysis shows the alleged 2026 reply (‘Victory is sure’) was posted 13 minutes before the original post. This is physically impossible on any digital platform,” Oketola said.
INEC also dismissed attempts to link the account to the Chairman through email, phone number, or financial records, stating that verification checks on the platform showed no connection.
“The platform would have confirmed linkage had any genuine association existed. Therefore, there is no linkage between the email account and the X account,” the statement said.
It added that the appearance of a phone number in BVN or OPay records does not prove ownership of any social media account.
The commission described the incident as a coordinated disinformation campaign, revealing that at least seven fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram were created using the Chairman’s identity.
It further noted that the X account in question was later renamed and labelled a parody account after the controversy.
INEC said its findings have been forwarded to security agencies and urged Nigerians to avoid spreading unverified information.
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