By Musa Bakare
The clamor surrounding Professor Ampitan’s position as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has little to do with competence, fairness, or national interest. It is about 2027. It is about fear.
It is about an opposition already preparing the ground to reject an election it has not yet contested.
From the quarters of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its ever shifting coalition of convenience, the script is painfully familiar: discredit the umpire early, weaponize ethnicity and religion, and craft a narrative of victimhood long before a single ballot is cast.
When defeat looms, excuses are prepared in advance.
Let us interrogate the substance of their tirades against the erudite Professor if Law, Joash Amupitan.
Critics argue Professor Ampitan should not lead INEC because he is not from the right part of the North. They question his faith, his ethnicity, and even his refusal to submit to entrenched interests disguised as consultation.
What they have not questioned, because they cannot, is his capacity to do the job. This omission is not accidental; it is strategic.
An independent minded INEC Chairman in the crop of Amupitan poses a direct threat to a political culture built on manipulation, backdoor negotiations, and last minute electoral gymnastics.
For years, oppositions have relied less on grassroots strength and more on exploiting institutional loopholes. Now, faced with the prospect of a firmer, more disciplined electoral process under Amupitan, they are rattled.
And when politicians are rattled, they resort to their oldest weapon: divisive rhetorics.
Nigerians must ask: who truly benefits from this sudden obsession with the INEC Chairman’s origin? Certainly not the ordinary voter in Kano, Lagos, Enugu, or Calabar.
The real beneficiaries are politicians who would rather ethnicize the process than organize effectively, who would rather cry foul than build credibility, and shout bias than earn trust.
We have seen this playbook before: loud allegations, dramatic press conferences, carefully choreographed outrage, all designed to delegitimize unfavorable outcomes. The difference today is that Nigerians are watching more closely.
Even more revealing is the complaint that Professor Ampitan is not connected to certain power blocs. That, in itself, is his strongest qualification.
INEC was never designed to serve cabals or act as an extension of political bargaining tables. Its constitutional duty is simple and sacred: to conduct free, fair, and credible elections, nothing more, nothing less.
For an opposition struggling to find coherence ahead of 2027, such neutrality is inconvenient. What they seek is not fairness, but familiarity, not independence, but influence.
This explains why the attacks on Professor Ampitan have grown increasingly reckless. In their desperation, critics have crossed from legitimate scrutiny into dangerous insinuations, peddling the idea that leadership must be filtered through ethnic entitlement, that merit must bow to identity, and that national institutions should be negotiated like private assets.
That is not democracy. That is regression.
The governing philosophy championed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has emphasized strengthening institutions over pandering to political convenience, a principle that naturally unsettles those who thrive in weak systems.
Even during the era of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, with all its controversies, opposition politics did not so openly hinge on preemptive excuses and sectional agitation of this scale.
So, let us strip away the pretense. The opposition’s message is clear: if they win, the system worked; if they lose, the umpire is compromised. That is not opposition, it is opportunism.
As 2027 approaches, Nigerians must reject this politics of panic. Elections are not won through noise, outrage, or propaganda. They are won through organization, credibility, and genuine connection with the people.
If the opposition truly believes in its strength, it should welcome a strong and independent INEC, not fear it.
But fear is exactly what we are witnessing:
Fear of transparency.
Fear of neutrality.
Fear of a process they cannot bend.
The attacks will continue, louder, sharper, and more desperate.
But INEC, and indeed Nigerians, must remain focused.
The real question is not whether Professor Ampitan satisfies political interests. The real fact is, he will uphold the sanctity of the ballot.
Everything else is noise manufactured, exaggerated, and driven by a political class already bracing for failure in 2027.
Nigeria must choose: the path of prejudice and manipulation, or the path of fairness and institutional integrity.
There can be no middle ground.
– Musa Asiru Bakare, a foundation member of the APC and political analyst, writes from Lokoja, Kogi State.
