Abuja, October 16, 2025 – In a unanimous decision that marks a pivotal shift in Nigeria's democratic machinery, the Senate has confirmed Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, as the sixth substantive Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The confirmation, announced during Thursday's plenary session, comes after a rigorous three-hour screening process that tested the nominee's vision for electoral reform and institutional integrity. Amupitan, a 58-year-old legal scholar from Kogi State, succeeds Professor Mahmood Yakubu, whose decade-long tenure ended on October 7, 2025, amid a mix of technological triumphs and persistent challenges.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio declared the approval with a voice vote, stating, "The nomination of Joash Ojo Amupitan for appointment as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission is hereby confirmed." The chamber erupted in applause as Amupitan, accompanied by his wife, Dr. Yemisi Amupitan, their three children—Barrister Favour, Marvelous, and Beloved—and dignitaries including Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo and University of Jos Vice-Chancellor Professor Tanko Ishaya, entered the hallowed chamber. This appointment, the first for a Kogi indigene in INEC's leadership, underscores President Bola Tinubu's emphasis on regional inclusivity and merit-based selection.
The process began on October 8, 2025, when President Tinubu forwarded Amupitan's nomination to the Senate, citing Section 154(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The National Council of State had unanimously endorsed the pick on October 9, with Tinubu describing Amupitan as an "apolitical figure" and a "distinguished scholar" whose expertise would fortify Nigeria's electoral framework. During the screening, led by the Senate Committee on INEC, lawmakers grilled Amupitan on critical issues, including his plans for technology integration, combating voter apathy, and ensuring transparency in result collation. Responding with poise, the nominee advocated for drone surveillance in election monitoring, a comprehensive audit of INEC's 2023 poll logistics, and deeper collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to link voter registration with the National Identification Number (NIN).
Born on April 25, 1967, in Ayetoro-Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Amupitan's journey from a polytechnic student to a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) exemplifies academic rigor and professional excellence. He began his tertiary education at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin (1982–1984), before earning an LL.B (Hons) from the University of Jos in 1987, topping his class and clinching awards like the Richard Akinjide Prize and the University Chancellor's Prize. Called to the Bar in 1988 after excelling at the Nigerian Law School, he pursued advanced studies at the same institution, obtaining an LL.M in 1993 and a Ph.D. in Law in 2007, all focused on public law, corporate governance, privatization, and evidence law.
Amupitan joined the University of Jos as an Assistant Lecturer in 1989, ascending to Reader in 2003 and full Professor in 2008. His administrative prowess shone as Head of the Department of Public Law, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and currently as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration). Conferred with the SAN rank in September 2014—a rare honor recognizing his over 50 scholarly publications, including monographs on electoral law reforms and petroleum industry regulations—he has supervised 13 Ph.D. candidates and mentored over 30 LL.M. students. Beyond academia, Amupitan has served on the Council of Legal Education (2008–2014), the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, and boards of entities like Integrated Dairies Limited and Riss Oil Limited. A devout Christian from a family steeped in education—his late mother, Alice Ajigba Amupitan, was an educator and church leader—he is married with four children, embodying the values of discipline and service.
Amupitan steps into a role burdened by the legacy of his predecessor. Professor Mahmood Yakubu, appointed in 2015 and reappointed in 2020, oversaw a transformative yet turbulent era in Nigerian elections. His tenure, chronicled in the recently released book Election Management in Nigeria: 2015–2025, introduced groundbreaking technologies like the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED), and the Results Viewing Portal (IReV), which digitized accreditation and result transmission. These innovations expanded polling units from 119,974 to 176,846, ending a 25-year stagnation, and promoted inclusivity for persons with disabilities (PwD), internally displaced persons (IDPs), women, and youth. The Electoral Act 2022, a cornerstone of Yakubu's reforms, legally enshrined electronic transmission, minimizing human interference and curbing graft-prone processes like manual data entry.
Yet, Yakubu's decade was no panacea. The 2019 and 2023 general elections, alongside 19 off-cycle governorship polls, were marred by logistical snarls, insecurity, and allegations of irregularities. The 2023 polls, postponed hours before commencement due to material distribution failures and equipment glitches, saw BVAS and IReV falter amid connectivity issues and untransmitted results, eroding public trust. Persistent challenges included vote-buying, electoral violence—over 50 INEC offices attacked between 2019 and 2023—and voter suppression. Yakubu himself conceded in his book that "technology cannot end the flaws that continue to undermine the credibility of Nigeria’s elections," citing technical failures and the need for voter education and security collaboration. Voter registration efforts, while registering 11 million new voters since 2021, faced apathy, with over seven million online pre-registrants unable to complete physical biometric capture due to personnel shortages.
INEC's voter roll, now exceeding 93 million, remains a flashpoint. Just days before Amupitan's confirmation, controversy erupted when INEC demanded ₦1.5 billion for a certified copy of the National Register of Voters and polling unit lists—a figure critics decried as opaque, especially amid the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise that has seen six million online initiations since August 2025. The portal, cvr.inecnigeria.org, allows status checks but highlights disparities, including underage entries and duplicates scrubbed post-2023—2.7 million invalidations, mostly in the south, fueling regional bias claims.
Amupitan's pledges during screening offer a roadmap for renewal. He vowed to audit 2023 logistics, integrate drones for real-time monitoring, and embed voter education in primary schools to cultivate civic habits early. Emphasizing NIMC synergy, he aims to resolve NIN-voter linkage delays that disenfranchised thousands in 2023. "We must restore faith through transparency and innovation," he stated, echoing calls from opposition parties for prioritizing public trust over partisanship. His vision includes statutory backing for tech innovations, addressing Supreme Court rulings that deemed electronic transmission non-mandatory.
Reactions poured in swiftly. Kogi Governor Ododo hailed Amupitan as a "man of integrity" who would honor his state, while Plateau's Caleb Mutfwang praised his "strategic thinking." Civil society groups like Yiaga Africa welcomed the apolitical choice but urged swift reforms to combat suppression. On X (formerly Twitter), users celebrated the "new sheriff in town," with posts like one from @_chiefagbabiaka sharing images of the Senate session. Another from @Nairametrics highlighted the implications for 2027 preparations.
As Amupitan assumes office, he inherits a commission at a crossroads. With off-cycle elections in Edo and Ondo looming in 2026 and the 2027 general polls on the horizon, his leadership will be scrutinized for delivering on promises of credible, inclusive voting. Nigeria's democracy, fragile yet resilient, now banks on this Kogi-born professor to weave technology, law, and equity into a tapestry of trust. In Yakubu's words, the path demands "continued reform and vigilance"—a baton Amupitan appears ready to carry.
