NGO Sues INEC Over ‘Amupitan’s X’ Account

The Foundation for Digital Justice, non-profit organisation, has filed a suit against against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  over its failure to release the details of the forensic cybersecurity expert commissioned to probe an X account allegedly linked to Joash Amupitan its Chairman.

The suit filed at the the federal high court in Lagos is seeking to compel INEC to release the identity of the cybersecurity experts contracted two months ago to unravel whether Amupitan is the owner of the account accused of making a partisan remark in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and President Bola Ahkedm Tinubu.

Amupitan had faced a public backlash after the account  @joashamupitan made a positive response to a remark by APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel.

Not a few Nigerians had condemned the alleged remark by the INEC boss, calling for his registration or sack by President Tinubu, because, according to them, he’s suppose to be neutral as the nation’s chief election umpire.

Amupitan had denied a link to the X account following which the Commission claimed it commissioned an expert to probe whether the account indeed belong to the INEC chairman.

According to the Commission, the INEC boss has since been given a clean bill on the issue as the forensic expert discovered that Amupitan has no link to the account.

But the non-profit organisation said it wrote a letter, under the Freedom of Information, FOI to INEC to make public details of the forensic expert public, which the commission has so far failed to respond to.

According to the details if the suit filed in court, the organisation said INEC must be made to provide the information as part of its obligation under the law, that doing contrary negates Section 4 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and indeed Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution.

Part of the court documents: “The Respondent’s refusal to furnish the Applicant with the requested information in Exhibit FOLEGAL 2 (FOI letter) amounts to a gross violation of Section 4 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and indeed Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution.

“The Information sought by the Applicant is not exempted from disclosure under any provision of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 (“FOI Act”), and the Respondent has no reason whatsoever to decline the Applicant’s request.

“As a result of the breach of the FOI Act, the Applicant is entitled to the reliefs sought in this Suit and such other reliefs this Honourable Court deems just and fair to make in the circumstances of this Application.

“Unless the Respondent is compelled and mandated by this Honourable Court to furnish the Applicant with the requested information, the Respondent would continue to abdicate its statutory duties and deny the Applicant of the requested information.

“It is in the interest of justice, our democracy and fairness to grant this Application and the Respondent will not be prejudiced thereby.”