Tinubu’s Newly Appointed INEC Chairman, Prof. Amupitan, Authored 2020 Legal Brief Accusing Nigerian Government of Genocide
Abuja, Nigeria – November 7, 2025
President Bola Tinubu’s newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), is reported to have previously authored a detailed legal document in 2020 accusing the Nigerian government of committing genocide and crimes against humanity.
An exclusive report published on Thursday by Sahara Reporters has revealed that Prof. Amupitan’s paper, titled “Legal Brief: Genocide in Nigeria – The Implications for the International Community,” was written under his law firm, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) & Co. Legal Practitioners & Corporate Consultants.
According to the publication, Prof. Amupitan wrote that “it is a notorious fact that there is perpetration of crimes under international law in Nigeria, particularly crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.”
He warned that the Nigerian government’s continued failure to prosecute perpetrators or protect minority citizens risked pushing the country toward “a repetition of the Rwandan and Sudanese mistakes.”
The legal brief, as reported, traced ongoing violence by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen to historic jihadist expansionism, arguing that there was “an ideological continuity between the 19th-century Sokoto Caliphate and the current ethnic-religious massacres” taking place in parts of Nigeria.
Prof. Amupitan, who is now set to oversee Nigeria’s electoral body, also urged the United Nations and other global powers to intervene, stating that “in a globalised world, State sovereignty diminishes to accommodate the common interests of the global community.”
Sahara Reporters noted that the document, dated October 2020, was circulated among international legal and diplomatic circles, long before his recent appointment by President Tinubu.
The revelation has sparked widespread discussion over the implications of Amupitan’s past views for his new role as head of Nigeria’s electoral umpire, especially given his strong criticism of government failures in addressing mass atrocities.
(Source: Sahara Reporters, November 6, 2025 – “Exclusive: Tinubu’s Newly Appointed INEC Chairman, Prof. Amupitan, Wrote Legal Brief in 2020 Accusing Nigerian Government of Genocide.”)
