The National Council of State has unanimously approved the appointment of Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented Amupitan’s nomination to the Council during its meeting on Wednesday, following the exit of Mahmood Yakubu, who served as INEC Chairman from 2015 until October 2025.
President Tinubu described the nominee as apolitical and noted that he is the first person from Kogi State in the North-Central region to be nominated for the position.
Council members threw their weight behind the President’s choice, with Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo describing Amupitan as “a man of integrity” with an impressive track record in academia and public service.
In line with constitutional provisions, President Tinubu will transmit Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
Born on April 25, 1967, in Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Amupitan is a Professor of Law and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at University of Jos (UNIJOS), where he has spent over three decades shaping legal education and governance.
He joined the services of the university in 1989 as an Assistant Lecturer and rose steadily through the academic ranks — becoming a Reader in 2003 and a full Professor in 2008. He was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2014, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the legal profession.
Amupitan obtained his LL.B from UNIJOS in 1987 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988. He went on to earn an LL.M in 1993 and a PhD in 2007, all from the same institution. His areas of specialization include Company Law, Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance, and Privatization Law.
Over the course of his academic career, Amupitan has held several key leadership positions at the University of Jos, including Head of Department (Public Law), Dean of the Faculty of Law, Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors, and member of the University Governing Council.
He has also contributed at the national level, serving on the Governing Council of Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, the Council of Legal Education, and as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Osun State.
Amupitan is a member of several professional associations, including the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigeria Institute of Management, and the National Association of Law Teachers.
His research interests cover a wide range of legal and policy issues, including electoral law reform, corporate governance, privatization frameworks, and petroleum industry law. He has authored more than 50 academic publications and several influential books such as Corporate Governance: Models and Principles (2008), Documentary Evidence in Nigeria (2008), and Evidence Law: Theory and Practice in Nigeria (2013).
He has supervised the completion of 13 doctoral and over 30 Master’s dissertations, underscoring his influence in nurturing the next generation of legal scholars and practitioners.
Professor Amupitan hails from Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State. He is married to Dr. (Mrs.) Yemisi Amupitan, and they are blessed with four children.
Amupitan will make history as the first person from Kogi State to head Nigeria’s electoral body — a development many observers believe could mark a new phase in the reform of the country’s electoral process.
