Sharia Council Calls for INEC Chairman Elimination, Vows to Reject 2027 Elections
The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has formally declared its opposition to the management of Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN) as Chairman of the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC).
Throughout its 2026 Annual Pre-Ramadan Lecture and Common Meeting held on Tuesday in Abuja, the Council made it clear that the Muslim neighborhood wouldn’t settle for the outcomes of any election managed by Amupitan.
The occasion, which targeted on the theme “Nigeria’s Future: Religion, Justice, and Management,” served as a platform for the Council to voice its insecurity within the electoral umpire’s neutrality.
Sheikh Bashir Umar, President of the SCSN, addressed the meeting, stating that Amupitan’s presence on the helm of INEC poses a direct threat to the transparency of the 2027 normal elections.
He insisted that the Council’s stance is rooted in considerations over the Chairman’s previous actions and private views, which they imagine disqualify him from being an neutral choose within the democratic course of.
Particularly, the Council accused Amupitan of authoring a authorized doc that alleged a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria.
Sheikh Umar identified that this declare has been dismissed by the Federal Authorities, making Amupitan’s alleged place a type of “divisive propaganda.”
“This isn’t the primary time the Council is taking this place,” Umar mentioned. “In a authorized temporary he personally despatched, he sought to ascertain the existence of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, a place that’s straight at odds with the official stance of the Federal Authorities, which has categorically acknowledged that no such genocide exists.”
The Shari’ah Council argued that such a bias makes it unimaginable for the Chairman to supervise a good contest. Umar additional emphasised that “For an umpire in a democratic course of, integrity and neutrality are non-negotiable.”
He known as on the Professor to resign voluntarily or for the presidency to step in and take away him from workplace to guard the nation’s democratic integrity.
In a swift response, a supply throughout the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee dismissed the Council’s calls for. The supply claimed the fee wouldn’t supply a proper response to the allegations, characterizing the SCSN’s statements as a mere try to realize public consideration.
The Council, nonetheless, stays agency. Whereas they clarified that they’re an advocacy group moderately than a authorized entity, they famous that different organizations have already filed lawsuits to problem Amupitan’s appointment.
POLITICS NIGERIA remembers that Professor Joash Amupitan was sworn in because the substantive INEC Chairman in October 2025, succeeding Professor Mahmood Yakubu.