- Dickson backs appointment
The Senate has fixed today for the screening of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nominee for the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN).
The Director of Information at the National Assembly, Bullah Audu Bi-Allah, announced this in a statement yesterday in Abuja.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had referred Amupitan’s screening to the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday.
The statement reads: “The Office of the Secretary Research and Information wishes to notify members of the Press and the general public that the Senate will, tomorrow, Thursday, October 16, 2025, conduct the screening of the nominee of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), as Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The exercise is scheduled to hold at the Senate Chamber, National Assembly Complex.
“Members of the Senate Press Corps are kindly requested to provide their usual media coverage and support to ensure adequate dissemination of information to the public.
“Similarly, television stations are expected to extend the usual courtesies of providing live coverage of the event.
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“The directorate appreciates your continued cooperation and professional coverage of National Assembly activities.”
Also, he senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson, has backed the nomination of Prof. Amupitan.
“I will be voting to support the nomination of Professor Amupitan as Chairman of INEC,” he said.
The former Bayelsa State governor dismissed the rumours that Amupitan has a political bias.
He explained that there had been confusion between two academics with similar names.
“There is some confusion between Professor Amupitan, a Professor of Law at the University of Jos, and another, Professor Osipitan, of the University of Lagos or Lagos State University.
“After speaking with many people, there is no compelling evidence showing that Professor Amupitan was indeed part of the legal team of the President, as speculated,” he said.
As a member of the Senate Committee on INEC, Dickson said the nomination offered the Electoral Management Body (EMB) an opportunity to restore public confidence in the electoral process.
“I find this nomination exciting because it gives the institution an opportunity to renew itself. A Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), conscious of his standing in the academic and legal community should be able to introduce the reforms we need in our electoral system and within INEC itself,” Dickson said.
He urged Nigerians to give the new INEC leadership a chance to succeed.
“Beyond the judgment of men and of the courts, there is also the judgment of God and of posterity. I believe he will do things differently,” he added.