Amupitan denies role in Tinubu’s 2023 election legal team
The nominee for Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has firmly denied claims that he was part of President Bola Tinubu’s legal team following the 2023 presidential election.
“I was never part of President Bola Tinubu’s legal team in court,” Amupitan stated on Thursday, October 16, 2025, while answering questions from senators during his screening at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio also queried whether Amupitan had worked with the legal teams of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or Labour Party (LP), to which the nominee responded, “I was not a member of any team.”
Amupitan, a Professor of Law and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jos, Plateau State, clarified his professional distance from partisan legal activities.
Reports by The Conclave indicate that it was Professor Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), not Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN), who served on President Tinubu’s legal team during the 2023 election litigation.
Amupitan’s nomination has, however, stirred public debate, with some observers expressing concerns over his perceived neutrality as he awaits Senate confirmation.
