The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sack the newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, over alleged anti-Muslim bias.
In a statement on Friday, November 7, 2025, the Council expressed “deep concern” over a 2020 legal brief reportedly authored by Amupitan titled “Genocide in Nigeria: The Implications for the International Community.” The document allegedly described violence in Northern Nigeria as “Christian genocide” and linked the crises to the 19th-century Jihad of Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio.
The SCSN condemned the claims as “provocative, divisive, and factually inaccurate,” insisting that conflicts in the North are complex and not religiously motivated. It said both Muslims and Christians have been victims of banditry and terrorism driven by poverty and social injustice, but noted that “credible data show Muslims have suffered the most casualties.”
Describing Amupitan’s analysis as a “malicious distortion of history,” the Council defended Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio’s jihad as a movement for moral and social reform, not hatred or violence.
The group said Amupitan’s past writings “raise doubts about his neutrality and fairness,” warning that his leadership could endanger confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process. It called on President Tinubu to “immediately review and reverse” the appointment to preserve national unity.
The SCSN also appealed for calm and urged Nigerians of all faiths to unite against “injustice, corruption, poverty, and insecurity.”
President Tinubu swore in Amupitan, 58, a law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria from Kogi State, as INEC chairman on October 8, 2025.
