By Sabiu Abdullahi
A former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has launched a strong criticism of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, alleging that the electoral chief lacks integrity.
Dalung spoke during an interview on Trust TV, where he questioned Amupitan’s moral authority to comment on political matters. He referred to past encounters with the INEC chairman during their time at the University of Jos.
“The Amupitan I know since 1991 as a student and later in 2004 as a colleague when I was lecturing in the university has no integrity. So I am not going to speak for him,” Dalung said.
He added, “There were things that happened under his watch in the University of Jos when I was a lecturer. So he’s not somebody who has any integrity that one should be here wasting time.”
Dalung also faulted remarks reportedly made by Amupitan about the African Democratic Congress (ADC). He accused the INEC chairman of attempting to silence opposition voices under the pretext of issuing warnings.
“But let me go back to what he said — that he was telling ADC, he was warning ADC that what happened in Zamfara would happen with the ADC. Excuse me, is Amupitan aware of what happened in Zamfara?” he queried.
He argued that the political crisis in Zamfara State was linked to procedural violations rather than party leadership issues.
“What happened in Zamfara was not about the leadership of the party. Because if what happened in Zamfara has to do with the leadership of the party, the entire PDP election in Nigeria would have been cancelled by the court. It has to do with the process of selecting candidates which the Electoral Act was not followed,” he said.
Dalung further claimed that the alleged warning to the ADC reflected poorly on Amupitan’s conduct.
“So for him to use that as a warning to the ADC, it is clear that he is demonstrating the type of character he is. He failed to address issues but was issuing warnings because that was part of the game… so that he will come on air and then threaten Nigerians so that he can whittle down the momentum in ADC,” Dalung alleged.
“It was so disappointing that a professor of law could go that low to begin to issue warnings when he has a responsibility of explaining. So I know Amupitan very, very well. He’s somebody I have worked with closely. He doesn’t have integrity,” he added.
When asked about the seriousness of his claims, especially given Amupitan’s credentials and security clearance, Dalung argued that such processes do not guarantee integrity.
“Thank you very much. The security checks and screening is not about integrity. If it were about integrity, so many people would not be accountable when they went for the screening,” he said.
Pressed to provide evidence, Dalung cited alleged irregularities during Amupitan’s tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Jos.
“But to be asking me specific issues, yes, I have specific issues which border on integrity,” he said.
“When he was dean in the Faculty of Law, the 2009–2010 academic session, 16 students had their 2-1 results traded off under his watch. And we had special students, some of them were serving duty in the General Police, some of them were politicians in the National Assembly, in the House of Representatives, who were even absentee students. They graduated with 2-1, while 16 students had their 2-1s traded off.”
Dalung said he led a protest in response to the alleged actions, despite threats to his academic progress.
“I, Solomon Dalung, took the struggle of the 16 students against the faculty board. I was threatened that if I do not step down the struggle, I will not graduate for my master’s programme. And I sacrificed my master’s programme to fight for the students,” he stated.
He continued, “We got eight 2-1 students back, two we lost. This happened under his watch as dean of the Faculty of Law.”
Dalung also alleged that he faced consequences for his actions, including delays in the release of his results and certificate.
“Yes, I graduated ultimately with my master’s degree, but my results were not released until after two years. And my certificate was not issued to me until after about four or five years,” he alleged.
