President Bola Tinubu has reportedly picked Professor Joash Amupitan as preferred successor to INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu.
Yakubu is said to be on terminal leave, ending his decade-long leadership in November 2025.
President Bola Tinubu has reportedly endorsed Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan as the preferred candidate to replace Professor Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to reports, Professor Yakubu was recently directed to begin his terminal leave, which will run until the end of his second tenure in November 2025. The move is believed to be connected to growing concerns about some of his decisions in the final months of his leadership.
Among the issues raised were attempts to register new political parties and alleged partisan leanings during the Imo State governorship race. These controversies were said to have unsettled the commission and led to the cancellation of his last round of consultative meetings with political parties and civil society organizations.
Yakubu, who was first appointed in 2015, has presided over two general elections and multiple off-cycle polls during his ten years in charge. He was reappointed in 2020 for a second term.
His potential successor, Professor Amupitan, is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria from Kogi State with more than three decades of academic and professional experience. He is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos and also serves as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council at Joseph Ayo Babalola University.
Amupitan holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in law from the University of Jos. Over his career, he has served as Dean of the Faculty of Law, Head of the Department of Public Law, and member of several governing councils in Nigerian universities.
