By Obinna Uballa
The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately remove the newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, over a controversial 2020 legal brief he allegedly authored on religious violence in Nigeria.
The call followed online reports alleging that Amupitan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, contributed a document titled “Genocide in Nigeria – The Implications for the International Community” to the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON), in which he reportedly described killings in parts of the North as targeted attacks against Christians and minority groups.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Shari’ah Council described the document as containing “provocative, distorted and bigoted assertions” that portray Muslims in Northern Nigeria in a negative and sectarian light.
“If indeed Prof. Amupitan authored the 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 Council said.
The SCSN, according to SaharaReporters, an online medium, argued that the violence in Northern and North-Central Nigeria is multi-dimensional, affecting both Muslims and Christians, and linked largely to banditry, poverty and systemic neglect – not religious persecution.
The Council cited humanitarian casualty data to claim that Muslim communities have suffered the highest number of victims in violent attacks across states like Borno, Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, Yobe and Sokoto.
It also criticised Amupitan’s alleged reference to the 19th-century Jihad of Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio, calling it a “malicious misinterpretation” of a historical reform movement.
SCSN said the legal brief raises serious concerns about Amupitan’s ability to remain neutral as the head of the nation’s election umpire.
“Presiding over Nigeria’s electoral system demands the highest standards of neutrality, fairness, and inclusivity,” the Council stated. “His public record calls this neutrality into question.”
The group urged President Tinubu to immediately review and reverse the appointment, while calling on Nigerians across religious divides to avoid being drawn into sectarian tensions.
“Our common enemies remain injustice, corruption, poverty and insecurity,” it added.
