Over 1,000 indigenes of Ayetoro Gbede in Kogi State's Ijumu LGA marched through their streets yesterday to shield Independent National Electoral Commission chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan from mounting resignation calls, branding the campaign a "Pull him Down syndrome."
The National President of Ayetoro Gbede Development Association, Mr. Samuel Olorunmaiye, told the crowd that Amupitan had risen from Head of Public Law at the University of Jos to longest-serving Dean of Law and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration before President Bola Tinubu tapped him for the electoral post. "Prof. Amupitan is a man of value and we value him," Olorunmaiye said, dismissing partisan-link allegations as "baseless and untrue."
Youth Leader Comrade Elijah Babatunde warned the professor against yielding to "non-State Actors," urging him to stick to the Electoral Act and the Constitution. The Okun Development Association, umbrella body for Kogi Yoruba, echoed the plea, calling the appointment "a clear endorsement of competence and character" and asking aggrieved parties to pursue grievances through "established channels" rather than media pressure.
The community groups insist the chairman needs calm and institutional space to deliver "a free, fair and transparent election for Nigerians, come 2027."
Ayetoro Gbede has turned a routine personnel controversy into a hometown protection rally, proving that in Nigeria an appointee's village can become a louder shield than any official spokesman. By massing 1,000 marchers, the community is not just defending Amupitan; it is signalling to Abuja that any move against him will be framed as an attack on their ethnic bloc's turn at the national trough.
The choreography is familiar: once an indigene climbs into a sensitive federal seat, the local elite recast every criticism as an existential threat to the entire group. The speed with which AGDA and ODA rolled out integrity testimonials, academic CVs and appeals to constitutional order shows how quickly parochial solidarity displaces scrutiny of performance. The real message to other Nigerians is blunt: question our son at your peril.
For voters outside Kogi, the implication is sobering. When an electoral umpire's kinsmen position themselves as human shields, the space for impartial review shrinks. If 2027 polls go awry, protest will be dismissed not as civic duty but as an ethnic ambush, making post-election redress even harder.
The pattern repeats across agencies: Fashola's Lagos base, Amaechi's Rivers crowd, Zainab Ahmed's Kaduna caucus all played similar defence. Until appointments are stripped of hometown spoils, every INEC, CBN or NNPC chief will arrive pre-bunkered by a ready-made ethnic constituency.
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