Fake X Account Scandal: INEC Reveals ‘Impossible’ Timestamp, Points to AI-driven Smear Campaign Against Top Official.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has uncovered what it describes as a sophisticated, AI-driven disinformation campaign involving a fake X (Twitter) account used to impersonate one of its top officials, Prof.

In a statement issued Monday in Abuja, INEC said forensic investigations have conclusively established that the viral social media posts attributed to Amupitan including a politically suggestive “Victory is sure” comment were fabricated and never existed on the platform.

The Commission said the turning point in the investigation was a critical timestamp discrepancy showing that the alleged reply was posted 13 minutes before the original tweet it purportedly responded to a scenario experts say is impossible on any digital platform.

“That single inconsistency is definitive proof of digital manipulation,” the report noted, adding that the content was likely generated or altered using artificial intelligence tools.

The controversy erupted on April 10, 2026, when screenshots of the alleged post surfaced online, alongside claims linking the account to Amupitan through email, phone number, and bank verification (BVN) data. The claims quickly gained traction across social and traditional media.

However, INEC said multiple layers of forensic checks including platform recovery tests, digital archive searches, and open-source intelligence analysis found no connection between the professor and the disputed account.

According to the findings, the X handle @joashamupitan showed no verifiable activity prior to April 2026, with no records found on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Investigators also confirmed that the alleged reply does not exist on the live X thread where it was claimed to have appeared.

Further raising suspicion, the account was renamed, locked, and labelled a “parody account” on the same day the screenshots went viral a move INEC described as a deliberate attempt to cover tracks.

The Commission also dismissed claims linking the account to Amupitan’s personal data, explaining that while certain phone numbers and emails attributed to him are genuine, there is no technical evidence connecting them to the X account. It described conclusions drawn from BVN and data breach records as “misleading and forensically invalid.”

Beyond X, the investigation uncovered a wider impersonation network, including multiple fake Facebook and Instagram accounts using the professor’s identity, suggesting a coordinated effort to manipulate public perception.

INEC warned that the incident highlights the growing danger of digital misinformation, especially with the rise of AI-generated content and deepfakes.

“The fact that something is widely shared does not make it true,” the Commission said, urging journalists and the public to prioritise verification over speed.

The case has now been referred to law enforcement agencies for further action, including tracing those behind the fake account and prosecuting them under Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act.

INEC reiterated that Prof. Amupitan does not operate any personal X account and advised the public to rely only on its verified communication channels for official information.