Osun poll: Garba Shehu hails Amupitan’s humility, INEC’s transparency

Garba Shehu, former spokesperson to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its transparent handling of the recent Osun State governorship election. He specifically praised INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan for demonstrating humility and restraint, qualities that have apparently shifted Shehu's initial reservations about his appointment.

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I don’t know him, and we never met. I have no reason to wish to meet him, either. When they nominated him as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the nation received the shocking disclosure of his 2020 legal brief to the international community in which he claimed that the violence in the country was a Muslim pogrom against Christians.

Shehu admitted to having reservations when Amupitan was nominated as INEC chairman. These doubts stemmed from a 2020 legal brief attributed to Amupitan, which allegedly claimed that violence in Nigeria constituted a Muslim pogrom against Christians. Shehu stated that this assertion led him and others to question Amupitan's suitability for the crucial role of heading the electoral commission.

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The violence affected and still affects followers of all religions and speakers of every language.

However, Shehu acknowledged that violence in Nigeria is not confined to any specific religious or ethnic group. He stated that violence has affected and continues to affect followers of all religions and speakers of every language across the country. This broader perspective seems to have influenced his revised view on Amupitan's leadership.

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For this reason, I, among many others, felt bad about the assertion he made and assumed that he was not a good choice for that office. This country’s elections had incrementally got better with each new leadership.

Reflecting on past leadership, Shehu also lauded previous INEC chairmen, Prof. Attahiru Jega and Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for their significant contributions to improving Nigeria's electoral processes. He highlighted Jega's role in conducting elections considered the best since 1993 and Yakubu's success in gaining broad approval from civil society and observers for his elections. Shehu's commendation of the Osun election's conduct suggests a positive shift in his perception of INEC's performance under Amupitan.

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Professor Jega gave the nation its best election since the disputed June 12, 1993, that produced Chief MKO Abiola, now recognised as a duly elected president who did not, however, take the office. Professor Mahmud Yakubu did the impossible by rallying the civil society, CSOs, and local and foreign observers to approve all his elections. Not one election under him was ever rejected by any serious observer or CSO