An Abuja based Legal Practitioner, Funso Fayemi,ESQ, has described the attack on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC , Prof Josh Amupitan as despicable and shameful.
He described the events that took place on Thursday, 12 November 2026 at the prestigious Chatham Kent House in London, as the most abominable and unpardonable act that was committed against our nation.
The legal practitioner in a statement at the weekend in Abuja,said, he was not condemning the barbaric action as a politician, not as a partisan, but as a Nigerian citizen, as an officer in the temple of justice, and as a patriot whose conscience has been deeply wounded by the events.
“Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, the Chief Electoral Umpire of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), having honoured an official invitation to engage in a distinguished intellectual discourse, was shamefully attacked, blocked, harassed and subjected to the most degrading form of public humiliation, ” he said.
” I condemn this act in the strongest, most vehement, and most unequivocal terms known to law and to conscience.”
He stated that what happened at Chatham House was not a protest. It was not freedom of speech. It was not democratic expression. ” It was a well-rehearsed, well-funded, and well-scripted hatchet job — executed by unscrupulous politicians and their hired agents, who, having failed to defeat an idea in the marketplace of reason, resorted to the gutter tactics of mob intimidation to embarrass a man and to ridicule a nation.”
“Let us call this evil by its true name: *It was an assault on the dignity of Nigeria.* Prof. Amupitan did not go to London as a private citizen. He went as the embodiment of the sovereign electoral will of over 220 million Nigerians. He went as the custodian of our ballot. He went as the symbol of our democracy. To block his path, to shout him down, to harass him in a foreign land, is to desecrate the very altar of our nationhood. It is to tell the world that Nigerians have no respect for their own institutions.As a lawyer, I am appalled”
“The office of the INEC Chairman is a constitutional office, clothed with dignity, protected by law, and deserving of the highest respect both at home and abroad. To treat its occupant like a fugitive is not only morally reprehensible, it is legally indefensible. It offends every known principle of diplomatic courtesy, civilized engagement, and the rule of law”
” I ask, and I demand answers: Who scripted this show of shame? Who financed this caravan of infamy? Who benefits from dragging the good name of Nigeria through the mud of Chatham House?
“Those unscrupulous politicians who orchestrated this disgrace must understand one eternal truth: You cannot love Nigeria and hate its institutions. You cannot aspire to lead a nation you are determined to humiliate before the world. You cannot build your political relevance on the ashes of our national honour.
I therefore call upon: *1. The British Authorities* to investigate this brazen act of harassment and ensure that those who took the law into their hands face the full weight of the law.
*2. The Federal Government of Nigeria* to lodge a formal diplomatic protest and demand firm assurances for the safety, dignity, and freedom of movement of Nigerian officials on legitimate official assignments abroad.
*3. All well-meaning Nigerians, at home and in the diaspora,* to rise above party lines and condemn this barbarity, for if we allow the Chief Electoral Umpire to be humiliated today, no Nigerian leader, no Nigerian institution, and no Nigerian citizen will be safe tomorrow.”
Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, he stated , is a man of learning, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and a man of proven integrity.
“He deserves our protection, not our persecution. He deserves our applause, not our abuse. Nigeria is greater than any single politician. Nigeria is greater than any desperate script. Nigeria is greater than any hired crowd. I stand with Prof. Amupitan. I stand with INEC. I stand with Nigeria.”
” This shameful episode at Chatham House will not deter our democracy. It will only strengthen our resolve to defend our institutions and to proclaim to the world that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be shamed by a few unpatriotic elements acting in a script.”