A former presidential candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has rejected the newly adjusted timetable for the 2027 general election, demanding the resignation of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, over what he described as an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, February 26, 2026, Olawepo-Hashim warned that Nigerians could embark on mass action if the INEC chairman fails to step down.
“It’s not the business of INEC to dictate to the parties when they should do nominations of candidates for elections… This shows that INEC’s Amupitan cannot be trusted,” he declared.
“It’s either he resigns or Nigerians will embark on mass action to force him out of that place. These guys don’t want to do any election and he shouldn’t be allowed to stay a day longer in that office because he has no agenda to do any free and fair election…”
‘Timetable Designed to Favour APC’
The former presidential aspirant alleged that the revised schedule for party primaries was deliberately structured to benefit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while destabilising opposition parties currently entangled in legal disputes.
“He’s deliberately working to favour the APC, having destabilised the other political parties who are currently trying to sort themselves out in court. That is disingenuous, and evil, to seek to move the primary to an early date,” he said.
Olawepo-Hashim also took aim at President Bola Tinubu, questioning the federal government’s commitment to credible elections.
“If Tinubu does not want to contest the election, let’s face that. We know what to do. If he doesn’t want any election, he doesn’t have to organise any election if he doesn’t want any election, and we’ll treat him as somebody who is not ready for elections … who will like to sit tight. President Tinubu is not the first Nigerian head of state to do this. (Late General Sani) Abacha tried it. He didn’t want to leave the office. He got all five political parties to endorse him and what happened?”
Call for INEC Reconstitution
Olawepo-Hashim insisted that for the 2027 polls to be credible, INEC must be reconstituted, arguing that the current leadership lacks the trust required to conduct free and fair elections.
“For us to have an acceptable, free and fair election in 2027, INEC has to be reconstituted. It has to be! Rushing out a time-table, rushing out an ill thought-out time table after a woeful performance of the Commission in the Abuja Area Council election, which is Amupitan’s first outing, shows that he cannot be entrusted with 2027 general election,” he stated.
“We cannot waste billions of Naira on an exercise whose outcome is already predictable. It would be injustice to taxpayers and evil against Nigerians.”
He further alleged that the APC was attempting to “kill Nigeria’s democracy after 27 years of uninterrupted democratic order,” but vowed that democratic forces would resist such moves.
“There’s a party trying to kill Nigeria’s democracy after 27 years of uninterrupted democratic order. And, just to be clear, genuine democrats in Nigeria and friends of democracy all over the world would not allow this happen. God will not allow it happen because we have suffered so much to get to this point and also, this attempt by the APC and Amupitan’s INEC would fail, just like Abacha’s.”
‘Primaries Are Internal Party Affairs’
Olawepo-Hashim argued that political parties alone have the authority to determine the timing of their primaries, provided they comply with the Electoral Act.
“Primaries are the affairs of political parties. It’s an over-reach on the part of INEC to dictate when political parties should conduct primaries. What political parties should do is to nominate, in accordance with the Electoral Act, as to when nominations should be received. So, the INEC is not a headmaster that can impose what it wants on political parties,” he said.
“In so far as political parties comply with the Electoral Act, regarding their nominations, a political party can decide to have its presidential primary, even one week to the required time allowed by the Electoral Act or even two days. INEC cannot legislate on issues that are internal affairs of political parties. This is settled law. The parties can decide to have their primaries in July, in August, in so far as they comply with the requirement of the Electoral Act on the number of days stipulated for them to nominate their candidates. Taking primaries from July to April is to destabilise the opposition parties.”
Reiterating his warning, he said:
“APC is a party that is doing everything to kill Nigeria’s democracy after 27 years of uninterrupted democratic governance. And just to be clear, that genuine democrats in Nigeria, friends of democracy all over the world… will not allow this to happen. It’s not compulsory that we have election if Tinubu doesn’t want a proper election but we must have elections and we must have proper elections. We will not allow this to happen. God will not allow it because we have suffered so much to get to this point. And, also, this attempt by APC and Amupitan’s support will fail just like Abacha’s did…”
The INEC chairman has yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
