The newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), is set to officially assume office on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to an internal memo issued by Wilfred Ifogah, Deputy Director of Publicity, on behalf of the Director of Voter Education and Publicity (VEP), Amupitan will hold his first official engagement — an inaugural meeting with the commission’s directors — at 1:30 p.m. in the INEC Conference Hall.
The memo noted that members of the INEC Press Corps have been invited to cover the brief ceremony, which marks the formal transition of leadership at the electoral body.
Prof. Amupitan is expected to resume duties immediately after being sworn in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier in the day at the Presidential Villa.
His appointment comes following the completion of the two-term tenure of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who led the commission from 2015 to 2025, overseeing two general elections and numerous off-cycle polls nationwide.
President Tinubu had nominated Amupitan for the position in September 2025, and the Senate confirmed his appointment after a thorough screening process that evaluated his competence, integrity, and vision for electoral reforms.
A respected scholar and former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Jos, Prof. Amupitan is an authority in constitutional and administrative law and has decades of experience in legal education, governance, and public policy reform.
He is expected to lead the next phase of electoral innovation and institutional strengthening at INEC, as Nigeria prepares for a series of off-cycle governorship elections ahead of the 2027 general elections.