JUST IN: Calls for INEC Chairman’s Sack Heighten over ‘Party Interference’ [DETAILS]

A pressure group, Opposition Watch Nigeria (OWN), has demanded the immediate resignation of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Ojo Amupitan, over alleged interference in the internal affairs of opposition political parties.

The group made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Aisha Bello, accusing the INEC chairman of bias and actions it said undermine the neutrality of the electoral body.

OWN said it was alarmed by what it described as repeated involvement of INEC in leadership and internal disputes within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), warning that such conduct threatens political pluralism and democratic norms.

According to the group, recent controversies involving the commission have fuelled public perception that INEC is taking sides in opposition party crises. It cited past judicial decisions, noting that the Supreme Court has on several occasions faulted the commission for what it termed unwarranted intrusion into party leadership and nomination processes.

“The Constitution is clear on the limits of INEC’s powers,” the statement said. “Regulating elections does not include acting as an arbiter in the internal governance of political parties.”

OWN alleged that conflicting recognitions of party leadership factions and selective invitations to meetings within the PDP had deepened suspicions of deliberate interference, which it claimed could be aimed at weakening opposition parties ahead of future elections.

The group warned that continued overreach by the electoral umpire risks eroding public confidence in the electoral process and tilting the political field in favour of the ruling party. It added that the credibility of elections depends largely on the perceived impartiality of the commission.

Calling for urgent action, OWN said opposition parties should be allowed to resolve their internal disputes in line with their constitutions without interference from INEC. It described the continued stay of the commission’s chairman in office under the current circumstances as “untenable.”

The group urged civil society organisations, the media and the international community to join in pressing for accountability, insisting that the resignation of the INEC chairman was necessary to restore confidence in the electoral body.

“An umpire perceived as partisan cannot guarantee free and fair elections,” the statement added.

However, the call for Amupitan’s resignation has drawn criticism from legal quarters. A constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Sebastine Hon, dismissed similar demands by the Sharia Council of Nigeria, describing them as unconstitutional and misleading.

In a separate statement issued in Abuja, Hon said calls for the removal of the INEC chairman on grounds of alleged bias amount to an attempt to pressure Bola Tinubu into violating the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

He explained that the INEC chairman can only be removed through a clearly defined constitutional process involving the President and the National Assembly, adding that any suggestion outside this framework is legally untenable.

Hon accused those pushing for Amupitan’s removal of resorting to what he described as “cheap blackmail,” stressing that constitutional offices must be protected from political intimidation to safeguard democratic stability.

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