By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
Ahead of 2027 elections, the newly sworn-in Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Thursday formally assumed office at the headquarters of the commission in Abuja, describing his appointment as a divine call to service.<\/p>\n
Amupitan, who was sworn in earlier by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, took over from May Agbamuche-Mbu, who had been serving as Acting Chairman of the Commission since the exit of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.<\/p>\n
Speaking during an interactive meeting with INEC directors shortly after taking over, as the Commission’s national chairman,Amupitan expressed gratitude to God for a \u201cdivine assignment,\u201d and vowed to uphold integrity, transparency, and discipline in the management of Nigeria\u2019s electoral process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am here for a purpose. Maybe if I had a choice, I would have said I would not come here but from all indications, I can see that God is moving this country, and my coming is divine. With God saying go, who am I to say no? I am here because I have a role to play to ensure that a new Nigeria is birthed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Amupitan, who was accompanied by his wife, children, vice chancellor of the University of Jos, Tanko Ishaya and other top officials from the institution, where he previously served, assured the Commission\u2019s staff that his leadership would prioritise their welfare and professional development.<\/p>\n
The new INEC Chairman said teamwork, accountability, and commitment to credible elections was important, noting that the success of the Commission depends on synergy among its departments and staff.<\/p>\n
He stressed the need of restoring public confidence in the electoral process, adding that Nigerians must trust that their votes will count.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cOur mandate is very clear. That is to deliver free, fair, and credible elections that reflect the will of the people. The integrity of our elections is not negotiable. Every voter must feel confident that their vote counts.<\/p>\n
“For me, staff welfare is going to be a priority. We will expect a lot from you, and because of that, you also deserve to be well equipped and supported to deliver. We will work assiduously to ensure that your working conditions are conducive and that you have the necessary resources to excel,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Amupitan who also acknowledged the task ahead, particularly the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, stated that the exercise would serve as a test of INEC\u2019s resolve to uphold credibility and transparency.<\/p>\n
“Together, let us uphold the values of democracy and work tirelessly for the credibility of our elections. The facts may be challenging, but if we stand united, there is nothing we cannot achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe eyes of the nation are upon us. We must rise to the occasion and demonstrate that we are capable of conducting elections that meet the expectations of Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank you for your commitment, your service, and I look forward to working closely with all of you.
\nHe stressed the need of restoring public confidence in the electoral process, adding that Nigerians must trust that their votes will count.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cOur mandate is very clear. That is to deliver free, fair, and credible elections that reflect the will of the people. The integrity of our elections is not negotiable. Every voter must feel confident that their vote counts.<\/p>\n
“For me, staff welfare is going to be a priority. We will expect a lot from you, and because of that, you also deserve to be well equipped and supported to deliver. We will work assiduously to ensure that your working conditions are conducive and that you have the necessary resources to excel,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Amupitan, who also acknowledged the task ahead, particularly the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, stated that the exercise would serve as a test of INEC\u2019s resolve to uphold credibility and transparency.<\/p>\n
“Together, let us uphold the values of democracy and work tirelessly for the credibility of our elections. The facts may be challenging, but if we stand united, there is nothing we can not achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe eyes of the nation are upon us. We must rise to the occasion and demonstrate that we are capable of conducting elections that meet the expectations of Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank you for your commitment, your service, and I look forward to working closely with all of you as we embark on this very, very important mission.<\/p>\n
He commended Agbamuche-Mbu for her stewardship in the interim period and thanked INEC staff for their dedication to duty.<\/p>\n
Amupitan urged the staff to work in unity, break silos, and commit to strengthening democratic values through credible elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke Ahead of 2027 elections, the newly sworn-in Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Thursday formally assumed office at the headquarters of the commission in Abuja, describing his appointment as a divine call to service. Amupitan, who was sworn in earlier by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1418,1879,1809,4866,944,1505],"class_list":["post-8171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-assignment","tag-credible","tag-democratic","tag-divine","tag-elections","tag-strengthening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8172,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8171\/revisions\/8172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}