Northern Minorities Caution Against Ethnicising Appointment of New INEC Chairman

***Hail Tinubu for Promoting Inclusion, Merit
The Northern Nigeria Minorities Group (NNMG) has condemned attempts by certain individuals and groups to ethnicise the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a statement issued in Abuja and signed by its Convener, Chief Jacob Edi (Kakaki Bassange), the group described the ongoing criticisms as unwarranted and divisive, warning that such sentiments threaten national cohesion.
Edi noted that Professor Amupitan, a distinguished legal scholar and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, hails from the Okun ethnic group in Kogi State — one of the minority nationalities in Northern Nigeria. He stressed that the North comprises 19 states with diverse ethnic and cultural identities, none superior to another by tribe, tongue, or faith.
“We are deeply concerned by the spate of commentaries and social media tirades portraying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nomination of Professor Amupitan as an act of ethnic bias. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” the group stated.
According to NNMG, this is the first time in 65 years—since Nigeria established a statutory electoral commission in 1959—that a northern minority has been appointed to lead it.
The group recalled that northern minorities had never questioned previous appointments, even when individuals from the North West and North East held the position consecutively for over 15 years.
Edi urged Nigerians to see northern minorities as equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project, not mere demographic fillers, stressing that inclusivity strengthens democracy.
The statement lamented what it described as an old and dangerous trend that began during the Obasanjo administration, when appointments of northern minorities were dismissed as “not northern enough.”
“The North is not defined by ethnicity but by geography — broad, inclusive, and inherently multi-ethnic. Those promoting this narrow, toxic narrative are the real enemies of national unity,” the group said.
The NNMG outlined its position to include, reducing leadership choices to ethnic arithmetic undermines the region and the nation, such divisive thinking is outdated and contrary to modern governance ideals and that competence, integrity, and capacity — not ethnicity — must guide national appointments.
Professor Amupitan’s nomination should be celebrated as a milestone for equity, meritocracy, and inclusivity.
Commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for recognising the North’s diversity, the group said the President’s appointments reflect a deliberate effort to give all segments of the federation a sense of belonging.
The statement concluded with a call for unity and focus on national progress:
“The time for ethnic arithmetic is over. This is the era of competence, fairness, and national responsibility.
Northern minorities are not just minorities — together, we are the stabilising force of this federation and true believers in Nigeria’s unity and progress.”