Latest news: the National Council of State gives the OK to the new president of INEC

The National Council of State has approved the appointment of North Central Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has put forward Amupitan as a candidate to fill the vacant position, following the exit of Professor Mahmood Yakubu. Yakubu served from 2015 to October 2025.

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

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

In accordance with the constitution, President Tinubu will now send Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening.

Amupitan, 58, of 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 specializes in corporate law, evidence law, corporate governance and privatization law. He became a senior lawyer 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 obtained an LLM from UNIJOS in 1993 and a PhD in 2007, during an academic career that began in 1989, following national youth service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in Bauchi from 1988 to 1989.

He currently serves as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, a position he holds alongside the role of Vice Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.

Among the academic positions he has held at UNIJOS we remember: President of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014); Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014); and Head of the Public Law Department (2006-2008).

Outside of academia, Amupitan is a member of the Board of Directors of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, a member of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, and a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other roles. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja (1996-2004).

Amupitan is the author of numerous law books, including Corporate Governance: Models and Principles (2008); Documentary Evidence in Nigeria (2008); Law of Evidence: Theory and Practice in Nigeria (2013), Principles of Company Law (2013) and an Introduction to Trust Law in Nigeria (2014).

He is married and has four children.