LAGOS: Fresh controversy has trailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appointment of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), following revelations linking him to a 2020 legal brief that allegedly influenced a U.S. report branding Nigeria as a country where Christians are being persecuted.
According to a Reporters investigation published, Amupitan authored a document titled Legal Brief: Genocide in Nigeria the Implications for the International Community, which formed part of a report known as Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter.
The report, published by the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) a coalition of Nigerian and global human rights advocates reportedly described widespread killings and violent attacks in Nigeria as acts of genocide, particularly against Christians and minority groups.
Reporters stated that the legal brief, written under Amupitan’s law firm, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) & Co., called for urgent international intervention to stop what he termed pogrom and attacks against Christians.
It is a notorious fact that there is perpetration of crimes under international law in Nigeria, particularly crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, Amupitan allegedly wrote.
The brief criticized the Nigerian government’s handling of security crises, warning that failure to act could make Nigeria repeat the Rwandan and Sudanese mistakes.
Amupitan further argued that the federal government’s neglect to prosecute offenders or protect minority citizens amounted to a constitutional failure, making external intervention a moral and legal necessity.
He also linked Nigeria’s insecurity to the historical 1804 jihad led by Uthman Dan Fodio, alleging that remnants of the movement’s ideology persist through present-day extremist groups.
The success of the jihad was one of religious triumphalism aimed at expanding the caliphate across Nigeria, the paper stated.
The brief went on to accuse successive Nigerian governments of protecting northern political influence and avoiding the term genocide to shield the state from international accountability.
States easily find cover under the principle of complementarity to conceal genocide and protect sovereignty at the expense of innocent lives, Amupitan wrote, adding that international law overrides absolute sovereignty in cases of genocide.
The publication has since sparked debate in political and religious circles, given that Amupitan now leads the commission responsible for overseeing the 2027 general elections.
Critics argue that the revelations could raise questions about his neutrality in managing Nigeria’s electoral process, especially amid allegations that the administration seeks to strengthen political ties with the Christian community ahead of 2027.
A political analyst in Abuja, who preferred anonymity said: Revelations about Amupitan’s role in that report show how politics and religion are being mixed at the highest levels. What Tinubu sees as a strategy might end up backfiring politically.
The development also comes amid global reactions to U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed warnings of possible military action against Nigeria over alleged religious killings remarks that have triggered diplomatic tension and domestic criticism.
