Senate Confirms Amupitan As INEC Chairman

By Ayodele Oni

The Senate has confirmed Joash Amupitan as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Amupitan, a professor of Law, was confirmed by the upper chamber after his screening on Thursday.

Report stated that in his over two-hour submissions during the screening, Amupitan vowed to ensure INEC’s  independence.

One of the critical questions he had to answer came from Senator Seriake Dickson, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP),  representing Bayelsa West, who asked if the nominee was involved in any form in the 2023 presidential election tribunal.

Amupitan said emphatically that he did not participate in the tribunal, or the appeal that followed at the Supreme Court.

There had been speculations that Amupitan was part of the legal team of President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 elections litigations.

“When I was coming here, I bought the certified true copy of the legal appearances at the tribunal and the Supreme Court.  I was not part of it. I never, I did not partake in it’, he said.

The National Council of State had approved the nomination of Prof Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) from the North-Central as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented Amupitan as the nominee to fill the vacant position, following Prof Mahmood Yakubu’s exit. Yakubu served from 2015 till October 2025.

President Tinubu told the council that Amupitan is the first person from Kogi, North-Central state, nominated to occupy the position and is apolitical.

Council members unanimously supported the nomination, with Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo describing Amupitan as a man of integrity.