The National Council of State has unanimously approved the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan from Kogi State as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu presented Professor Amupitan to the Council as his nominee to fill the vacant position following the exit of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who served from 2015 until October 2025.
Tinubu told the Council that Amupitan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is “the first person from Kogi, a North-Central state, nominated to occupy the position,” adding that he is “apolitical.”
Council members were said to have unanimously supported the nomination.
Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Ododo, described Amupitan as “a man of integrity.”
President Tinubu will forward Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening and confirmation in line with constitutional provisions.
Born on April 25, 1967, in Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Amupitan, 58, is a Professor of Law at the University of Jos, Plateau State.
He obtained his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the same university.
Amupitan specialises in Company Law, Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance and Privatisation Law, and became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2014.
Onanuga added that Amupitan began his academic career in 1989 after completing his National Youth Service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation.
He holds an LLM (1993) and PhD (2007) from the University of Jos.
He currently serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, as well as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Osun State.
His previous academic positions at UNIJOS include Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012–2014), Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008–2014), and Head of the Department of Public Law (2006–2008).
Outside academia, Amupitan has served on several boards, including Integrated Dairies Limited, the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council, and the Council of Legal Education. He was also a board member of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja, between 1996 and 2004.
He’s an author and his publications include 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).
He is married and blessed with four children.
