- Safiu Kehinde
The National Council of State has approved President Bola Tinubu’s nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This is coming barely two days after the exit of the immediate past chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
NPO Reported that Mahmood had on Tuesday handed over to May Agbamuche following the conclusion of his tenure.
Mahmood who had been at the helm of the Commission’s affairs since 2015 announced his handing over during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
While Agbamuche had taken over in acting capacity, Tinubu presented Amupitan as the nominee to fill the vacant position.
The President, as disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, 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 the state Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo describing Amupitan as a man of integrity.
In compliance with the constitution, Tinubu will now send Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening.
As profiled by Onanuga, the 58-year-old don who hailed from Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu LGA in Kogi State, is a Professor of Law at the University of Jos, Plateau.
He is also an alumnus of the university. He specialises in Company Law, Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance and Privatisation Law. He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2014. Amupitan was born on April 25, 1967.
After completing primary and secondary education, he attended Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, from 1982 to 1984, and the University of Jos from 1984 to 1987.
He was called to the bar in 1988. He earned an LLM at UNIJOS in 1993 and a PhD in 2007, amid an academic career that began in 1989, following his National Youth Service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in Bauchi from 1988 to 1989.
Currently, he serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, a position he holds in conjunction with being the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.
Among the academic positions he has held at UNIJOS are: Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014); Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014); and Head of Public Law (2006-2008).
Outside of academics, Amupitan serves as a board member of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, a member of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council, and a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other roles.
He was a board member of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja(1996-2004). Amupitan is the author of many books on law, such as 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).