Odinkalu: I’ll be praying for Amupitan… INEC dominated by multiple principalities

Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), says Joash Amupitan, the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is a man of integrity.

In an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Odinkalu said Amupitan’s character is not in doubt but warned that his integrity could be tested by what he called the “multiple principalities” within the electoral body.

He said INEC is difficult to manage because of entrenched political interests and the influence of politicians who “own” workers within the commission.

“But when I said that INEC is a place dominated by multiple principalities, that’s exactly the point I was trying to make,” Odinkalu said.

“There is no senior politician, from the presidency to state governors, who does not have a plant in INEC.

“I’m not a particularly religious person, but I’ll tell him that because he is who he is, I’ll be praying for him.”

Odinkalu advised Amupitan to set clear priorities and determine measurable goals for his tenure.

‘ANMABRA GUBER POLLS A FIRST MAJOR TEST’

The former NHRC chairman said Nigerians would judge Amupitan’s leadership by how he manages the November 8 Anambra governorship election, describing it as his first major test.

“If I were to make a suggestion to the new INEC chairperson, quite clearly he cannot fix everything in one day,” Odinkalu said.

“With the time he’s got, and given the damage that Mahmood Yakubu did to INEC, it seems to me he’s got to decide what his priorities are and how to measure progress.

“His first election is the Anambra governorship poll, and he’s got barely two weeks to deal with that. People are not going to give him any free passes.”

Odinkalu added that the Anambra, Ekiti, and Osun governorship elections would serve as indicators of what to expect in the 2027 general election.

“It seems to me he’s got a few laboratories — electoral laboratories — in which to test his ideas,” he said.

“On that basis, Nigerians are going to have a foretaste of what 2027 will look like.”

Odinkalu described Amupitan as a “decent man” and expressed confidence that he would not conduct elections that produce disputed outcomes.

“I know Joash; we were at law school together and were admitted to the Nigerian Bar on the same day,” he said.

“Joash is a person of basic decency and integrity. My hope is that when his tenure ends, he will leave INEC as the same Joash I have known for nearly four decades.

“Joash will not administer an election, like in Edo state, where there are four results.”

At his swearing-in ceremony on Thursday at the State House, President Bola Tinubu told Amupitan that the November 8 Anambra election would be a “litmus test” for his leadership.