The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed an alleged tweet attributed to its chairman, Joash Amupitan, claiming it was part of a scheme to discredit him and undermine the electoral body. Lawrence Bayode, INEC's Director of Information and Communication Technology, stated during an interview on Channels Television's The Morning Brief on Tuesday that the post, which purportedly showed Amupitan supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general elections, was fabricated. He cited a forensic report indicating the tweet was not authentic, emphasizing that conclusions should not be drawn from screenshots alone. According to Bayode, an account under the username @joashamupitan was created on April 10, 2026, two years after the alleged post, suggesting digital impersonation.
Bayode noted the account remains active due to an ongoing investigation and called on the Nigerian Police Force and the National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC) to complete their work to clarify the matter. He warned that digital impersonation and content manipulation pose serious risks to public perception, enabling malicious actors to create confusion. The ICT director also highlighted that X's artificial intelligence, Grok, is capable of generating false information, urging the public to verify critical information before relying on it for decisions or commentary.
Lawrence Bayode claims the tweet targeting Joash Amupitan is a fabrication, yet allows the impersonation account to remain active while investigations continue. Nigerians named in the digital impersonation risk prolonged reputational harm as the very body meant to safeguard electoral integrity delays account removal. The same platform's AI is cited as unreliable, yet INEC depends on public trust in its digital communications. This contradiction leaves citizens vulnerable to both deception and institutional inaction.
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