A coalition of more than a thousand legal practitioners under the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) has appealed to the Senate to turn down the nomination of Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a strongly worded letter dated October 10, 2025, and addressed to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Simon Lalong, the lawyers questioned Prof. Amupitan’s eligibility for the position. They alleged that his previous role as Lead Counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 Presidential Election Petition at the Supreme Court makes him unfit to head the nation’s electoral body.
The group argued that Amupitan’s political and professional ties with the ruling party create an unavoidable conflict of interest and compromise the integrity required of an INEC Chairman. According to the letter signed by ALDRAP’s Administrative Secretary, Jesse Williams Amuga, the Senate should refrain from proceeding with any confirmation process and instead notify the President that the nominee does not meet the ethical and constitutional standards expected of the office.
ALDRAP reminded lawmakers of past precedents, referencing the Senate’s 2021 decision to reject the nomination of Lauretta Onochie due to her political affiliation with the APC. The association insisted that Amupitan’s case mirrors that situation, stressing that the Senate must uphold the same standard of impartiality.
Quoting Section 5 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act of 1991, ALDRAP stated that the nominee’s appointment would inevitably place him in a position where his personal interests could clash with his constitutional duties. The group also cited Section 19 of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Act of 2003, which bars individuals from exploiting prior professional roles to gain undue advantage.
The lawyers maintained that having previously represented the APC at the highest level of electoral litigation, Prof. Amupitan would struggle to demonstrate neutrality in matters involving the same party. They emphasized that Nigeria has more than 200,000 qualified lawyers—many of whom have no political affiliations—who could serve in the role without raising questions of bias.
ALDRAP further warned that if the Senate proceeds with the confirmation, it would have no choice but to take legal action to enforce adherence to constitutional principles of fairness and impartiality in public appointments.
Copies of the letter were also dispatched to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Inspector-General of Police, and key foreign missions, including the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom embassies in Nigeria.
The association described itself as a professional network of over a thousand lawyers serving as staff and consultants to the National Assembly and other legislative institutions within and outside the country.
