The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria (SCSN) has called on President Bola Tinubu to review the appointment of Prof Joash Amupitan as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to ensure the credibility of the nation’s electoral body.
The body in a statement signed by the Secretary General said that the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process cannot be entrusted to someone whose record reveals open hostility toward one of the country’s largest faith communities.
Also, it said that it views with serious concern the recent revelations by Sahara Reporters alleging that Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan had in 2020 authored a toxic legal brief containing highly provocative, distorted, and bigoted assertions about the nature of conflicts in Northern Nigeria and maligning the historical legacy of Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio’s jihad.
The statement reads in part: “It is unfortunate and disturbing that an individual now entrusted with overseeing Nigeria’s democratic integrity could have espoused such bigotry in divisive, sectarian, and inaccurate narratives against a majority faith community.
“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.” Also, it said that it is both astonishing and troubling that an individual with such open bias and mischief could have success fully passed a security and background clearance process before ascending to such an exalted office.
“This suggests either a grave lapse in due diligence by the vetting agency or a reckless approval that undermines public trust in the integrity of the system.”, it added.
The Council hereby wishes to clarify, and debunk the falsehood embedded in his so-called analysis of “Christian genocide” and his mischaracterisation of Northern violence as an extension of the 19th-century Jihad led by Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If we set aside the mischievous emotive interpretation and examine the facts objectively, the reality is that the violence in Northern Nigeria is complex and multi-dimensional.
Both Muslims and Christians have suffered immensely from violent extremists’ attacks, banditry, and communal conflicts rooted in accumulated neglect, poverty, and social injustice.”
Further, SCSN said that it was not only Christians who were killed, as reliable humanitarian data from independent and international sources revealed that Muslims were the worst hit. “This is a reality easily verifiable by mapping the epicentres of violence from Borno to Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, and Yobe, where the greater majority of the victims are Muslims living in these overwhelmingly Muslimmajority areas.
It therefore defies logic and decorum for anyone to reduce these tragedies to a one-sided narrative of Christian persecution. “The attempt by Prof. Amupitan to link contemporary insecurity with the historic Jihad of Sheikh Uthman bn Fodio is a malicious distortion of history and a deliberate misrepresentation of the legacy of one of West Africa’s most revered reformers.
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 noble legacy and instituted ideals are still admired across the African continent today.”
