The Labour Party (LP), led by Senator Nenadi Usman, has called on the newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), to place the interests of Nigerians above all else as he assumes his new role.
In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, said Prof. Amupitan faces a defining moment — one that could either restore faith in Nigeria’s democracy or deepen its decline.
Akeni stated, “The new INEC Chairman must decide whether to redeem Africa’s largest democracy or further desecrate what his predecessor, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has left behind.”
He urged Prof. Amupitan to carefully consider whom he will serve — the people of Nigeria or the political interests of one individual.
“He must choose whether to serve the collective will of over 230 million Nigerians, who employed President Bola Tinubu, or to yield to the personal dictates of the man who appointed him,” Akeni said.
He further advised the new INEC chief to reflect on how history will remember his predecessor, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, and to learn from it.
According to Akeni, the first test of Prof. Amupitan’s commitment to fairness and integrity would be to remove the names of Julius Abure and his defunct executive council from INEC’s official portal.
He added that the portal should instead reflect the Nenadi Usman-led National Executive Council (NEC), which the party has duly submitted, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling affirming that party leadership must be determined through internal party processes.
“This aligns with both national and global administrative conventions that reject any leadership vacuum in institutional management,” Akeni emphasized.
He concluded by reminding Prof. Amupitan that his actions would be closely watched, not only by Nigerians but also by the international community.
“As he takes up this vital responsibility, Prof. Amupitan must understand that he is under the scrutiny of not just Nigerians, but the entire civilized world — both the West and emerging democracies — that look to Nigeria as an example, for better or worse,” Akeni stated.
