Dare Babalola
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has petitioned President Bola Tinubu to sack the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Josiah Amupitan, ahead of the 2027 general election.
MURIC stated that the removal of Amupitan is important in order to safeguard the integrity of the impending electoral process.
The demand was made on Thursday in a statement issued by the group’s Kano State chapter chairman, Malam Hassan Sani Indabawa.
MURIC in the statement alleged that Amupitan’s past activities warranted the call for his removal, resignation or prosection.
MURIC alleged that Amupitan authored a contentious 80-page legal brief titled ‘Genocide in Nigeria: The Implications for the International Community’ in 2020, which purportedly contained hate speech against Muslims and was submitted to the United States.
MURIC insisted that the 2027 general elections cannot be credible with Amupitan at the helm of the electoral commission.
“In 2020, Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN) published a 80-page Legal Brief titled, ‘Legal Brief: Genocide in Nigeria: The Implications for the International Community’. The document was commissioned by the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) and the International Organisation on Peace-building and Social Justice (PSJ), and was later highlighted in the ‘Religious Freedom in the World 2025’ report.
“Amupitan’s Legal Brief argued that attacks by Boko Haram and “Fulani herdsmen” were not merely localized conflicts but formed a “coordinated anti-Christian campaign”. He clearly expressed that it was a “notorious fact” that crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide were being perpetrated in Nigeria.
“Our position, therefore, is that the demand for Amupitan’s immediate removal, resignation, or prosecution is to protect and safeguard the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
“We therefore demand the immediate removal of Amupitan for his glaring partisanship and open despise and resentment against Nigerian Muslims,” MURIC said.
