Breaking
STATEHOUSE PRESS RELEASE: NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES APPOINTMENT OF PROFESSOR AMUPITAN AS INEC CHAIRMAN
The National Council of State has approved the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) from the North-Central as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented Amupitan as the nominee to fill the vacant position, following Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s exit. Yakubu served from 2015 till October 2025.
President Tinubu told the council that Amupitan is the first person from Kogi, North-Central state, nominated to occupy the position and is apolitical.
Council members unanimously supported the nomination, with Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo describing Amupitan as a man of integrity.
In compliance with the constitution, President Tinubu will now send Amupitan’s name to the Senate for screening.
Amupitan, 58, from Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu LGA in Kogi State, is a Professor of Law at the University of Jos, Plateau. He is also 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, and 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.
Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information and Strategy)
October 9, 2025
By: Divine Perezide
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed media reports suggesting that it has suspended the Delineation of Electoral Wards in Warri Federal Constituency, covering Warri South, Warri South-West, and Warri North Local Government Areas.
The rebuttal followed a report by the Punch Newspaper claiming that an INEC official had hinted at a suspension in connection with the Supreme Court judgement of December 2, 2022. INEC clarified such reports were misleading.
In a statement issued on Sunday, INEC emphasized “the commission has not taken any decision regarding the delineation exercise in the Warri Federal Constituency. Reports alleging suspension are inaccurate and do not reflect the position of INEC.
The Commission noted that it remains committed to upholding the Supreme Court judgment but insisted that due process and broad consultation must guide every step of the delineation process.
A senior Electoral Officer, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, stressed that INEC’s mandate cannot be subjected to misrepresentation. “We must be clear: no suspension has been declared. What we have is an ongoing consultation process to ensure compliance with legal and constitutional provisions,” he stated.
The Supreme Court ruling of December 2022 had directed INEC to ensure fair representation of all ethnic nationalities within the Warri Federal Constituency by reviewing and delineation wards accordingly.
INEC assured stakeholders, particularly in Delta State, that it would communicate its position at the appropriate time, adding that it remains committed to transparent and credible Electoral Reforms.
(c) IduwiniVoice
By: Favour Bibaikefie
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has announced the withdrawal of services at Dangote Refinery and all Oil Installations following what it described as the unlawful dismissal of more than 80 of its members.
In a statement released by the union, the PENGASSAN condemned whT it termed “Dangote Refinery unilateral action to sack ova 800 members of our association for joining our union,” BBC Pidgin reported.
The association further described the move as “an affront to all workers for Nigeria and deliberate violation of Nigeria labour laws, di Constitution, and ILO convention.”
The mass sack has drawn significant concerns across labour circles, with PENGASSAN warning that such practices could set a dangerous precedent for the treatment of workers in the country’s oil and gas sector.
Reacting to the development, Dangote Refinery said it had taken necessary steps within the boundaries of law and industrial practice. While the company the company did not provide a detailed explanation for the dismissal, it insisted its actions were guided by operational realities.
Labour watchers say the dispute could escalate into a major confrontation unless urgent mediation is initiated by the federal government via the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The refinery, commissioned to be a game-changer in Nigeria’s energy sector, now faces its first major labour crisis since operations began.
Breaking
Warri Delineation: INEC Suspends Exercise, Order Continuation of Continuous Voters Registration Exercise on Old Voter Register
By: Favour Bibaikefie
The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced the suspension of all activities concerning the delineation of electoral wards in the Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State.
This is according to a statement confirmed by Victoria Eta-Messi, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, last Saturday to the press, adding that the matter has been escalated to the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Punch Newspaper reported.
“This matter was brought to the attention of the NSA. So, at the moment, we can not take any further action,” she said.
However, Eta-Messi noted that the Continuous Voter Registration exercise will continue as planned, using the existing polling and registration structures.
“CVR is ongoing in the constituency, using the existing PUs and RAs,” she added.
IduwiniVoice notes that the suspension coming barely weeks after a peaceful protest was staged by members of the Urhobos and Ijaws from Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West Local Government Areas.
The protesters who gathered at INEC’s headquarters in Abuja demanded immediate implementation conclusion of the redelineation process as declared in a 2022 Supreme Court judgment, which mandated a fresh delineation of electoral wards in the constituency before any further elections.
During the protest, community representatives submitted a petition addressed to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu declared the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise without implementing the court-ordered as an unconstitutional exercise.
“We can no longer wait while our democratic rights, guaranteed by the constitution and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court judgment, are being eroded.
“INEC should immediately release and implement the report painstakingly embarked upon by stakeholders. We shall not idly stand by and watch our democratic rights and franchise fretted away,” the petition read.
In the December 2, 2022 judgement, the Supreme Court declared that the current delineation in Warri Federal Constituency was outdated and no longer represented the demographic realities of the constituency.
It, therefore, directed INEC to undertake a fresh and comprehensive re-delineation of theWarriFederalConstituency before any further elections.
Preliminary reports of INEC’s field work, following a series of consultations in 2023, which were presented to stakeholders at a public forum in Warri on April 4, 2025, has since sparked ethnic tensions in Warri, with the Itsekiris rejecting the outcome that was embraced by the Ijaws and Urhobos.
It is left to be seen how the three tribes that are at log-ahead would react to this new development as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).