The Senate is set to screen Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan today, Thursday, for the position of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The announcement was made in a circular issued on Wednesday by the Senate’s Director of Information, Bullah Audu Bi-Allah, and distributed to journalists in Abuja. The screening follows less than 24 hours after Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from President Bola Tinubu on the Senate floor, requesting swift confirmation of Amupitan’s nomination.
According to the circular, “The Office of the Secretary, Research and Information wishes to notify members of the press and the general public that the Senate will on Thursday, 16th October, 2025, conduct the screening of the nominee of President Bola Tinubu, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, as INEC Chairman. The event will take place at the Senate Chamber, National Assembly Complex.” Media organizations, including television stations and the Senate Press Corps, were urged to provide full coverage of the session.
Amupitan’s nomination, endorsed last week by the National Council of State, marks a major leadership transition for INEC following the exit of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who served as chairman for a decade. In his correspondence to the Senate, President Tinubu stated that the appointment was made in line with Section 154 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and called for prompt legislative action. “I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate the appointment of Professor Joash Amupitan, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission,” the letter read.
The nomination comes at a politically sensitive time, with ongoing public debates about INEC’s independence and credibility in past elections. While the Presidency has described Amupitan as “an apolitical figure of unquestionable integrity,” opposition parties and civil society organizations have called for a transparent and rigorous confirmation process.
Today’s screening is expected to attract national attention, as it may influence upcoming electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 general elections.Meanwhile, the Northern Nigeria Minorities Group has warned against attempts to turn the nomination into an ethnic issue. In a statement released on Tuesday in Kaduna, the group’s Convener, Chief Jacob Edi, decried “divisive commentaries and social media attacks” criticizing the President’s choice of the Kogi-born legal scholar.
Edi noted that Amupitan, an indigene of the Okun ethnic group in Kogi State, represents one of the northern minority nationalities and that his nomination should be celebrated, not politicized.
“We are alarmed by efforts from some individuals and groups to ethnicise the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission,” he said.
He further highlighted the historical significance of the appointment, stating, “This is the first time in 65 years—since the establishment of Nigeria’s statutory electoral commission in 1959—that someone from a northern minority group has been nominated to lead it.” Edi dismissed claims of ethnic favoritism as “misleading, divisive, and detrimental to national unity,” urging Nigerians to focus on merit, integrity, and the broader national interest.
Source: https://lagostelevision.com/
