•Obasanjo, Abdulsalami absent •President to send name to Senate for confirmation
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The National Council of State has endorsed the appointment of Joash Ojo Amupitan, Professor of Law and expert in the Law of Evidence as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), following President Bola Tinubu’s recommendation and in line with the constitutional provisions requiring consultation with the Council of State.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meetings, Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma said the appointment was unanimously approved.
“Mr. President, in keeping with statutory provisions, presented the name of Professor Amupitan, a highly respected scholar of impeccable integrity who has never participated in partisan politics and his appointment was unanimously endorsed by the Council,” he said
In compliance with the constitution, President Tinubu will send Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening.
Amupitan, 58, from Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area in Kogi is an alumnus of the university. 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, and the University of Jos from 1984 to 1987. He was called to the bar in 1988.
He earned an LLM at UNIJOS in 1993 and a PhD in 2007, amid an academic career that began in 1989, following his National Youth Service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in Bauchi from 1988 to 1989.
Currently, he serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos.
A position he holds in conjunction with being the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.
Among the academic positions he has held at UNIJOS are: Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014); Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014); and Head of Public Law (2006-2008).
Outside of academics, Amupitan serves as a board member of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, a member of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council.
He is also a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other roles. He was a board member of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja (1996-2004).
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). He is married and has four children.
The Council also approved the appointment of Aminu Yusuf from Niger State as the new chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC).
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State disclosed this to State House correspondents.
According to him, the Council’s decision followed recommendations by President Tinubu, who presided over the meeting. The Council also approved the appointment of Alhaji Tonga Betara Bularafa as Federal Commissioner representing Yobe State at the Commission.
Both appointments, he said, received unanimous approval from the members of the Council.
In attendance were former presidents and heads of state, Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar as well as governors and other members of the Council. Former presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan were absent.
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