Nigeria’s electoral umpire will be investigating its Twitter handle’s liking of a post with a message critical of leading presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said late Wednesday that its attention had been drawn to reports of its Twitter handle “liking a post relating to one of the 18 presidential candidates.”
The post was put out by the online news medium, Premium Times. It quoted the singer, Seun Kuti, who called Obi an opportunist who won’t deliver Nigeria.
The post was liked by INEC’s official Twitter handle before it was unliked, leading to some Nigerians on Twitter accusing the electoral body of bias, just 17 days before the crucial presidential election that Obi is projected to disrupt.
In its reaction to the criticism, INEC assured Nigerians of its impartiality.
“The Commission assures all Nigerians of its neutrality and will conduct a general election that is free and fair to all,” it posted on Twitter.
“The allegiance of the Commission is to the people of Nigeria.
“In the meantime, the Commission is investigating the circumstances that led to the liking of the said post and will take appropriate disciplinary actions if an infraction is established,” it added.
