INEC Chairman-Designate Amupitan Breaks Silence on Representing Peter Obi at Election Tribunal
Amupitan Speaks: INEC Chairman-Designate Addresses Claims of Representing Peter Obi at Tribunal
The Chairman-designate of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has denied representing Peter Obi of the Labour Party at the 2023 Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC).
He also denied representing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the tribunal.
Amupitan made the denial on Thursday during his screening at the National Assembly by the Nigerian Senate.
“I was not part of it,” he stated when Senate President Godswil Akpabio asked him whether he was part of the legal teams of the opposition.
As earlier reported by Naija News, he also dismissed speculation that he was part of President Bola Tinubu’s legal team during the 2023 presidential election tribunal.
He said, “When I was coming here, I bought the certified true copy of the legal appearances at the tribunal and the Supreme Court. I was not part of it. I never, I did not partake in it.”
Following his nomination to replace Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as INEC chairman, rumours spread that Amupitan had been among the lawyers who defended Tinubu’s mandate at the tribunal.
The insinuations sparked public debate over his neutrality as head of Nigeria’s electoral umpire.
Meanwhile, following his successful screening, the Senate has confirmed Amupitan’s nomination to become the next INEC chairman.
He becomes the sixth substantive Chairman of INEC, succeeding Mahmood Yakubu, who has officially concluded his tenure as the INEC boss.