The Senate has unanimously confirmed Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a move celebrated within the chamber but met with sharp criticism from civil society organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The confirmation on Thursday positions Amupitan, a Professor of Law, to succeed Professor Mahmood Yakubu and become the sixth substantive INEC chairman since 1999. The process proceeded by a voice vote with no objections, following a screening that showcased both support and tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate President Godswill Akpabio led the praise, stating, \u201cWe looked at your r\u00e9sum\u00e9. The DSS and Police have both confirmed that you have no criminal record. You have no known medical issues. You are eminently qualified.\u201d Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro described Amupitan’s academic and professional background as \u201cintimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the session faced moments of contention when Akpabio’s attempt to block questions on the BVAS and IReV portals was resisted by lawmakers, including Senator Solomon Adeola, who insisted the nominee must answer all queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his screening, Professor Amupitan made ambitious pledges for his tenure. He vowed that \u201cno voter will be disenfranchised\u201d and promised to deploy technology, including drones, to deliver materials to remote areas. He committed to civic education, fiscal responsibility, and the establishment of an INEC Ethics and Compliance Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In stark contrast to the chamber’s approval, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) condemned the confirmation as a \u201ctravesty.\u201d The group\u2019s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, accused the Senate of being a \u201crubber stamp\u201d and violating its own rules by bypassing the relevant committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis confirmation was not about competence. It was about political calculation,\u201d Onwubiko asserted, alleging the appointment is part of a plot to manipulate the 2027 general elections. He warned that \u201crigged elections could trigger public unrest\u201d and called on Nigerian youth to resist voter apathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Senate has unanimously confirmed Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a move celebrated within the chamber but met with sharp criticism from civil society organizations. The confirmation on Thursday positions Amupitan, a Professor of Law, to succeed Professor Mahmood Yakubu and become the sixth substantive INEC chairman since 1999. The process proceeded by a voice vote with no objections, following a screening that showcased both support and tension. Senate President Godswill Akpabio led the praise, stating, \u201cWe looked at your r\u00e9sum\u00e9. The DSS and Police have both confirmed that you have no criminal record. You have no known medical issues. You are eminently qualified.\u201d Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro described Amupitan’s academic and professional background as \u201cintimidating.\u201d However, the session faced moments of contention when Akpabio’s attempt to block questions on the BVAS and IReV portals was resisted by lawmakers, including Senator Solomon Adeola, who insisted the nominee must answer all queries. During his screening, Professor Amupitan made ambitious pledges for his tenure. He vowed that \u201cno voter will be disenfranchised\u201d and promised to deploy technology, including drones, to deliver materials to remote areas. He committed to civic education, fiscal responsibility, and the establishment of an INEC Ethics and Compliance Committee. In stark contrast to the chamber’s approval, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) condemned the confirmation as a \u201ctravesty.\u201d The group\u2019s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, accused the Senate of being a \u201crubber stamp\u201d and violating its own rules by bypassing the relevant committee. \u201cThis confirmation was not about competence. It was about political calculation,\u201d Onwubiko asserted, alleging the appointment is part of a plot to manipulate the 2027 general elections. He warned that \u201crigged elections could trigger public unrest\u201d and called on Nigerian youth to resist voter apathy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parliamentary-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27294,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27293\/revisions\/27294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}