The National Council of State has approved the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), replacing Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
Prof. Amupitan is the first person from Kogi state nominated to occupy the position. Amupitan, 58, who hails 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.
Law Background
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. He then attended the University of Jos from 1984 to 1987.
He was called to the bar in 1988 and earned an LLM at UNIJOS in 1993 and a PhD in 2007. This was amid an academic career that began in 1989. It followed his National Youth Service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in Bauchi from 1988 to 1989.
Among the academic positions he has held at UNIJOS are: Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014) and Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014). He was also Head of Public Law (2006-2008). He has assumed his current role as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos. Prof. Amupitan holds this position while also serving as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.
Outside of academics, Amupitan serves as a board member of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom. He is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council. Additionally, he is a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other roles.
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).
