Breaking: National Council of State Endorses Tinubu’s Pick for INEC Chairman

The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) new chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) of the North-Central, has been nominated by the National Council of State.

Following the departure of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced Amupitan as the candidate to take up the post.

Remember, Yakubu was in office from 2015 till October 2025.

Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, reportedly revealed this in a statement on Thursday.

According to the statement, President Tinubu informed the council that Amupitan is apolitical and the first candidate from Kogi, North-Central state, to be nominated for the role.

Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo described Amupitan as a man of integrity, and the nomination received overwhelming support from the council.

Going forward, President Tinubu will forward Amupitan’s name to the Senate for review in accordance with the constitution.

Born in Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu LGA, Kogi State, Amupitan, 58, is a law professor at the University of Jos, Plateau. He is a graduate of the university as well.

He specializes in corporate governance, privatization law, law of evidence, and company law. It was in September 2014 that he was appointed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

On 25 April 1967, Amupitan was born.

He went to the University of Jos from 1984 to 1987 after finishing his elementary and secondary school, and then to Kwara State Polytechnic in Ilorin from 1982 to 1984. In 1988, he received his bar admission.

After serving as a National Youth Service member at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in 1989, he began his academic career in 1989 and completed his LLM at UNIJOS in 1993 before earning his PhD in 2007.

Right now, he is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State, in addition to being the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos.

Among his academic roles at UNIJOS are Head of Public Law (2006-2008), Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014), and Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014).

Beyond the classroom, Amupitan is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council, a board member of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, and a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other positions. He served on the board of Abuja’s Riss Oil Limited from 1996 to 2004.

Corporate Governance: Models and Principles (2008), Documentary Evidence in Nigeria (2008), Evidence Law: Theory and Practice in Nigeria (2013), Principles of Company Law (2013), and an Introduction to the Law of Trust in Nigeria (2014) are just a few of the several legal volumes the author has authored.