London, November 13, 2026 — Nigerian protesters in the United Kingdom on Thursday publicly confronted and heckled Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), outside Chatham House in London, surrounding his vehicle, hurling insults, and demanding his immediate resignation over alleged irregularities in the preliminary voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan had attended a panel discussion at the British think tank titled “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot,” organised in collaboration with the Kimpact Development Initiative. As he left the venue, a group of demonstrators—largely Nigerian diaspora activists—blocked the black vehicle conveying him, preventing it from moving and insisting he alight to address their concerns.
Videos circulating widely on social media captured the tense scene. Protesters surrounded the car, waved placards (one reading “Amupitan, no more election fraud”), filmed the encounter, and shouted demands including “Come out and talk to us,” “Why are you running?” and “You can’t leave here!” Some hurled personal insults, calling him a “bastard,” “evil man,” and “evil corrupt man,” while branding INEC a “criminal organisation.” Security personnel attempted to calm the situation as the protesters continued their chants. Amupitan remained seated inside the vehicle and made no audible response.
The demonstrators accused the commission under Amupitan of compromising its independence and favouring President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Their primary grievances centred on the preliminary voters’ register published in late October, which they claimed contained duplicate registrations, photographs suspected of being generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence, entries for deceased persons, and questionable polling units. Some reports linked the protesters to opposition diaspora groups.
The confrontation follows mounting controversy over the register. On November 9, Amupitan announced that INEC had removed 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 records of verified deceased persons (totalling about 1.61 million entries) from the continuous voter registration exercises of 2025 and 2026. The commission said it had initially harvested over 11 million records before screening and identified 54 individuals across 10 states for possible disciplinary action or prosecution. The final register is scheduled for certification on December 15. Opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have called for forensic audits, with some claiming far higher numbers of problematic entries—claims INEC has not confirmed.
During the Chatham House panel, Amupitan addressed related electoral issues, including stating that INEC would abide by court judgments on the eligibility of candidates such as Atiku. He has previously acknowledged that technical problems during the 2023 elections damaged public trust and said the commission is working to rebuild confidence with new safeguards.
The London protest, captured on video and shared extensively online, has drawn significant attention in Nigeria, with many viewing it as a public expression of frustration over electoral credibility. No injuries or arrests were reported in connection with the incident. INEC has not issued an immediate detailed public response to the confrontation itself beyond its earlier statements on the register clean-up.
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