The Senate today Thursday confirmed the nomination of Law Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
His interview and clearance came after Senate President Godswill Akpabio told the Senators that Amupitan had been cleared by the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Police Force after necessary background checks.
Amupitan shot down widespread insinuations of being part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s legal defence team.
“I never appeared in the presidential election tribunal at the Supreme Court. Mentorship will not compromise my principle or my standard,” he said.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu forwarded to the Senate a letter to say he had received the clearance of the Council of State to forward Amupitan as Chairman of the country’s foremost electoral agency
He will be succeeding Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who served from 2015 till October 2025.
The law Professor faced the entire Senate sitting as a committee of the whole.
Senators laced him with questions bordering on credible elections, electoral reforms, and the deployment of technology to enhance transparency in Nigeria’s voting system.
Answering questions, Amupitan said: “There is a need for voter education, and it is the mandate of INEC. We will have basic courses and modules that will be downloaded by voters, along with capacity training.
“On the participation of women and persons with disabilities, I believe the time is right for that. The policies and laws must be put together for that purpose. When we notice necessities like that, we will require legislative interventions so that they are encapsulated in law. With NIMC and INEC working together, we will capture that.’
As to whether INEC should take over local government elections from state electoral bodies, the nominee advised caution as heaping that responsibility on INEC could overstretch the commission’s current resources.
“The conduct of local government elections has been debated widely. The view of most people is that the power should be handed to INEC because of what has happened in the local government and area councils. They already use data compiled by INEC, but the question is whether that will add another burden on INEC. We will look into it, but I cannot provide an answer for now”, he noted.
