The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has expressed strong concern over alleged comments attributed to the newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, which the Council described as “provocative, distorted, and bigoted.”
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday and signed by its Secretary General, the Council reacted to a report by Sahara Reporters claiming that Prof. Amupitan had in 2020 authored a legal brief containing controversial remarks about conflicts in Northern Nigeria and the legacy of Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio’s jihad.
The SCSN said it was “unfortunate and disturbing” that someone now entrusted with safeguarding Nigeria’s democratic integrity could have, in the past, made such allegedly divisive statements.
“If indeed Prof. Amupitan authored the said document, his submissions are not only unbecoming of a person of learning but dangerously inimical to the unity, peace, and stability of our country,” the statement read.
The Council rejected what it called Amupitan’s “mischaracterization” of Northern violence as an extension of the 19th-century jihad led by Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio, describing the claim as “a malicious distortion of history.”
“The jihad of Sheikh Uthman was not a war of hatred or extermination but a spiritual, moral, and social reform movement that sought to restore justice, knowledge, and governance rooted in ethics,” the SCSN said.
According to the Council, the ongoing violence in the North is “complex and multi-dimensional,” driven by poverty, injustice, and neglect — not religious persecution. It added that credible humanitarian data showed that Muslims have suffered the highest casualties in the affected regions.
“From Borno to Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, and Yobe, the majority of the victims are Muslims. It therefore defies logic and decorum for anyone to reduce these tragedies to a one-sided narrative of Christian persecution,” the statement continued.
The Council warned that Prof. Amupitan’s alleged views raise serious doubts about his ability to conduct free and fair elections in a multi-religious, multi-ethnic society like Nigeria.
“Such anti-Muslim sentiments are fundamentally inconsistent with the expectations and responsibilities of his office. It is astonishing and troubling that an individual with such open bias could have passed a security clearance before his appointment,” the SCSN added.
Consequently, the Council called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to “critically review” Amupitan’s appointment as INEC Chairman to preserve the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process.
The statement concluded by urging Nigerians of all faiths to resist divisive narratives and focus on the nation’s shared challenges of injustice, corruption, poverty, and insecurity.
“Our common enemies are injustice, corruption, poverty, and insecurity. The Council remains committed to peace, unity, and the pursuit of truth based on fairness and mutual respect,” it said.
