Joash Amupitan, the newly appointed head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is in Abuja for President Bola Tinubu’s swearing-in ceremony.
Amupitan met with onlookers at the State House on Thursday morning, clad in a white “agbada” and sporting a gold cap, and greeted them as he officially assumed the position of head of the nation’s electoral umpire.
The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the professor of law was accompanied by a few presidential aides.
The National Economic Council (NEC) meeting is being presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima in the Villa’s Council Chamber.
Governors and deputy governors from each of the Federation’s 36 states are present at the meeting.
Amupitan’s visit to the villa comes a week after the Senate approved his appointment as INEC Chairman following a rigorous screening session on October 16.
Senators questioned the 58-year-old don about his plans to bring about lasting reforms in the commission and restore credibility to the electoral process during his screening.
Amupitan succeeds Professor Mahmood Yakubu, whose term as INEC Chairman officially ended recently and was nominated by President Tinubu and supported by the National Council of State.
Since its founding, he is the electoral body’s sixth substantive head.
Amupitan had promised to prioritize electoral reforms that would boost voter confidence and ensure transparent polls while speaking to the Senate during his screening.
The professor stated that his main goals would be to strengthen the Electoral Act’s provisions to address irregularities in election dates and increase legitimacy.
“We must conduct elections where even the loser can congratulate the winner and declare, “You won fairly and well. When that occurs, voters’ confidence will naturally be restored, he said.
The law professor clarified that he neither represented the President nor appeared for any of the opposition candidates in response to reports that he had been connected to President Tinubu’s legal team during the 2023 Presidential Election Petitions Court.
He reiterated his impartiality to lawmakers by saying, “I never appeared before the Presidential Election Tribunal or the Supreme Court for any of the parties.”
Source: Channels TV
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