Can anything good come out of Nigeria’s dependent and state controlled election umpire? Nigerians ask as the newly appointed chairman of the INEC, Joash Amupitan engages members of the Senate in rhetorical jamboree to seal his confirmation
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
The ritual screening of the newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, took place at the floor of the Senate last Thursday, October 16, amid skepticism by Nigerians about what magic he is able to perform to conduct credible elections across the country in 2027. Since 1999 the appointment of the INEC Chairmen has failed to elicit any form of jubilation across the nation, even in the regions and states where they hail from. This is because their appointments signals another round of election manipulations and rigging due to the fact that the sitting President who appointed them would either contest in the election or has a presidential candidate of his choice whom he must foist on the nation through INEC.
So, the screening of Amupitan failed to elicit any excitement last week amongst Nigerians because the screening panel-the Senate-and its members are among the manipulators of elections. In the case of Amupitan, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio who presided over the purported screening, had brazenly manipulated his way into the Senate using the compromised judiciary, having stolen another candidate’s mandate after involving in his party’s presidential primary election.
Till date, Akpabio’s membership of the 10th Senate and his occupation of the office of the President of the Senate remains an aberration and a mockery of the INEC and the judiciary. During the screening, patronizing questions flowed without touching on the core of the issues among which are the amendment of the Constitution and the Electoral Act to accommodate a compulsory deployment of electronic devices to record and upload election results real time from polling units to the INEC server, compelling INEC to prove how it arrived at results, not to announce final results until all pending issues are resolved, as well as to compel President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assent to the amendments when completed.
But Amupitan walked away from the Senate unruffled because the powers that be has discreetly anointed him to continue from where his predecessor, Mahmoud Yakubu, left the national shame called INEC. The Senate, at last, confirmed Amupitan a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as the new Chairman of the INEC. Amupitan’s confirmation followed his screening by the senators which lasted for two hours.
During his screening, Amupitan responded to questions from senators regarding elections, administration, policy, and the amendment of the Electoral Act, among others.
He was ushered into the chambers alongside his family members and other personalities by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado, and welcomed by Senate President, Akpabio after the Senate had suspended its standing rules to admit them.
The President of the Senate explained that the Senate had agreed to screen Amupitan because he had first been cleared by the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), where his fingerprints were captured.
He said the new INEC chairman was cleared for Senate confirmation after security agencies confirmed that there was no criminal record against him. Last week precisely on Tuesday October 14, 2025 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had requested the Senate to confirm Amupitan as the new INEC chairman following the expiration of the tenure of Prof Yakubu. The request was contained in a letter read during plenary by the Senate President.
It read, “In accordance with the provisions of Section 154, Subsection 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate the appointment of Professor Joash Amupitan, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, as Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
While responding to questions from senators, the new INEC boss said he would work for all Nigerians and make them proud by introducing new measures to restore their confidence in the electoral process. He also said his leadership would ensure the integrity of elections and deliver credible results beginning with the Ekiti State governorship election slated for July 2026.
On the issue of glitches reportedly experienced during the electronic transmission of results in the 2023 presidential elections, Amupitan said his understanding of a glitch in that context was “improper configuration” of the technology used, adding that he would find a solution through a thorough audit.
He said his leadership would audit the existing technological infrastructure and forge partnerships with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other relevant bodies to deliver the expected results.
“The Supreme Court came out to say that iREV was not an electronic collation system, and that position was not properly brought out before the election. The iREV was supposed to be a safeguard for comparison because the laws made by this Distinguished Senate did not do away with manual collation. However, iREV was supposed to provide some guarantees and checks and balances,” he said.
“But going to the issue of glitches, which in simple terms I understand as improper configuration, especially during the presidential election, that eroded the confidence of so many people. Though, as His Excellency the Senate President said, I have to audit the system, if I am given the opportunity, to see what is actually wrong and whether we have what it takes as it is now, because it is not just INEC’s responsibility alone. We have other agencies like NCC, NIMC, and the service providers that will have to work together to ensure that we give Nigerians the technology that everybody will be happy about.
“There will definitely be an audit of the system we are meeting, and especially of the logistics of the election itself, to ensure that the proper strategy is put in place. We all know the problems, and we will find a proper strategy to confront them headlong.”
Amupitan also pledged to collaborate with the National Assembly to strengthen the electoral process, ensure the integrity of elections, and guarantee the judicious utilisation of funds allocated to INEC for the conduct of elections.
Speaking about what he would do to address voter apathy in the country, Amupitan said, “What I believe is that we will do something that goes beyond what is being done presently by having what I will call modules of education for voters.
“We can have a basic course that can be downloaded in various languages, even on handsets. Then we will conduct various capacity trainings to educate voters and also to preach patriotism.
“So, we will even think of introducing voter education at the primary school level so that it will be part of the upbringing of a person, preaching patriotism and the need for participation.
“I want to look at a situation where we can even use technology to eliminate some of those circumstances that have been encountered in relation to voter registration. If we have supportive technology, we’ll be able to deal with that. But if there are no technologies for that, we can talk of decentralising,” he said.
