President Bola Tinubu has appointed Joash Amupitan as the new chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Mr Amupitan is a professor of Law.
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His appointment has also been ratified by the National Council of States, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga wrote in a Thursday statement.
“In compliance with the constitution, President Tinubu will now send Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening,” Mr Onanuga wrote.
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He will be inaugurated by the president if his nomination is confirmed by the upper legislative chamber.
Born on 25 April 1967, Mr Amupitan hails from Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu LGA in Kogi State.
He is a law professor at the University of Jos, Plateau State. He is also an alumnus of the university.
Mr Amupitan specialises in Company Law, Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance, and Privatisation Law. He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in September 2014.
He replaces Mahmood Yakubu, also a professor, who led INEC from 2015 until Tuesday, when he stepped down as his second tenure of five years drew to an end. He handed over to May Agbamuche-Mbu, the most senior National Commissioner, by appointment.
Mr Yakubu was first appointed in 2015 by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari and re-appointed for another five-year tenure in 2020.
If confirmed, Mr Amupitan will be the 13th substantive chairperson of the electoral body since Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
The previous chairpersosns are Eyo Esua (1964–1966), Michael Ani (1976–1979), Victor Ovie-Whiskey (1980–1983), Eme Awa (1987–1989), Humphrey Nwosu (1989–1993), Okon Uya (1993, June-November), and Sumner Dagogo-Jack (1994–1998).
Others are Ephraim Akpata (1998–2000), Abel Guobadia (2000–2005), Maurice Iwu (2005–2010), Attahiru Jega (2010–2015), and Mr Yakubu (2015-2025).
The commission has had two acting chairpersons, both female. They are Amina Zakari (June – November, 2015) and the current May Agbamuche-Mbu, who took over on Tuesday.
The commission was first headed by a British, Ronald Wraith, during the colonial era in 1958.
If confirmed and inaugurated, Mr Amupitan’s first tasks would be the conduct of the Anambra governorship election scheduled for 8 November and FCT Area Council election holding in February 2026.
Read the full statement below by the Presidency:
STATEHOUSE PRESS RELEASE
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES APPOINTMENT OF PROFESSOR AMUPITAN AS INEC CHAIRMAN
The National Council of State has approved the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) from the North-Central as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented Amupitan as the nominee to fill the vacant position, following Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s exit. Yakubu served from 2015 till October 2025.
President Tinubu 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 Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo describing Amupitan as a man of integrity.
In compliance with the constitution, President Tinubu will now send Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening.
Amupitan, 58, 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).
He is married and has four children.
Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information and Strategy)
October 9, 2025
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