The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, has urged members of the 2027 Election Petition Tribunals to reject technicalities that defeat substantive justice, maintain firm courtroom control, and subject digital evidence to rigorous scrutiny to ensure the “truth of the ballot prevails”.
Professor Amupitan delivered the charge on Monday, November 9, 2026, during his opening remarks at a three-day workshop organised for Justices of the Court of Appeal and newly appointed tribunal judges. The event took place at the Body of Benchers Complex in Abuja under the theme “Election Tribunal as a Tool for Political Stability.”
The details of the address were formally highlighted in the Commission’s Daily Bulletin on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
Highlighting the growing complexity of modern electoral litigation, the INEC Chairman noted that disputes increasingly involve voter accreditation, electronic transmission of results, technological disruptions, and the integrity of digital logs.
Addressing key technologies such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), Amupitan emphasized that electronic tools should be evaluated with balanced legal objectivity: “Technology should neither be treated as infallible nor dismissed simply because the evidence is electronic.”
He urged the tribunal members to critically evaluate the authenticity, reliability, and probative value of BVAS data, IReV records, physical result sheets, and voter registers when resolving disputes.
Furthermore, Amupitan warned judges to prepare for sophisticated digital manipulation, including artificial intelligence-generated audio impersonating electoral officers, deepfake videos, fabricated result declarations, and false directives designed to incite unrest or mislead the courts.
He noted that tribunals would face dual challenges: identifying fabricated digital evidence presented as genuine malpractice, as well as preventing litigants from falsely dismissing legitimate video recordings as AI deepfakes.
Professor Amupitan commended the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem, for inviting the electoral commission to share its perspective at the workshop.
He also extended appreciation to the Court of Appeal, the National Judicial Institute (NJI), and legal experts responsible for compiling the election petition manual to guide judicial officers during the post-2027 election proceedings.
