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Amupitan: Court Can’t Continue to Decide Election Winners, It Must Be at Polling Units
Amupitan: Court Can’t Continue to Decide Election Winners, It Must Be at Polling Units
•Vows to reduce pre-election litigations, seeks support at 56th NALT conference
•Says with sound legal frame work, necessary reforms, losers won’t hesitate to congratulate winners
Raheem Akingbolu
The new Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, yesterday, said the country could no longer afford a situation where the courts would continue to decide winners of elections. Amupitan said elections must be won and lost at the polling units.
Addressing participants at the 56th Annual Conference of Nigerian Association of Law Teachers (NALT), held at the University of Abuja, Amupitan expressed his determination to work towards reducing pre-election litigations in Nigeria. He urged legal experts to work with the commission to reform the electoral system.
Insisting that “the court could not continue to determine elections”, he said elections would be won at the polling units if proper law framework was put in place.
He reaffirmed his commitment to uphold integrity, fairness, and transparency in Nigeria’s electoral process.
While promising to curb the rising tide of pre-election litigations, which he said “have long burdened Nigeria’s electoral process”, he pointed out that if necessary reforms were made, losers in elections would not hesitate to congratulate the winners.
Amupitan said, “This is a momentous occasion because this event has simply brought me before my mentors, my colleagues and mentees in the legal education community and I’m not in doubt you will be ready to offer constructive advice when and where necessary.”
The INEC chairman said law remained a vital instrument of social and political engineering, stressing that national development and economic sustainability are impossible without strong legal foundations.
He explained, “Law is not merely a set of rules but the foundation upon which societies build progress. It guides ethical governance, fosters economic opportunities, and upholds citizens’ rights.”
Amupitan acknowledged that while the National Assembly had made progress in amending the Electoral Act, more needed to be done to strengthen the framework for credible elections.
He said, “There is little INEC can do by way of policy if the law does not support us. I will work closely with the legislature to ensure we have enduring electoral laws that all Nigerians can be proud of.”
Calling on legal scholars to support the commission through constructive criticism, research, and advocacy, Amupitan said, “Look at me as your ambassador. I need your prayers.”
He emphasised the importance of patriotism and collective responsibility, saying Nigeria’s progress depends on effective leadership and commitment to national ideals.
Quoting Kenyan scholar, Professor Patrick Lumumba, Amupitan reminded participants that Africa’s rise was tied to Nigeria’s realisation of its potential.
“Whenever Nigeria provides leadership, Africa takes its rightful place. One way of fixing Nigeria begins from gatherings like this,” he stated.
Amupitan, who described NALT as “a movement for mentorship and national rebirth,” thanked the association for its support and promised to revisit before the end of the conference.
He urged participants to uphold the ideals of justice, truth, and nation-building through the law.
Earlier, National President of NALT, Professor Oluwole Akintayo, called for the repositioning of law as a central instrument for Nigeria’s national development, economic renewal, and democratic integrity.
Akintayo said, “The rule of law must serve and build the foundation of market efficiency and the engineering of human dignity. As law teachers, we have the privilege and duty to ensure that our students, the next generation of jurists and policy makers, internalise this delicate balance.”
He stated that the law must move from being a “passive spectator” to an “active architect” of national progress.
Akintayo stated, “Our theme, National Development and Economic Sustainability in a globalised world, could not be more timely and more consequential.
“It situates us at the intersection of law, economics, and governance, challenging us to interrogate the role of law not as a passive spectator, but as an active architect of Nigeria’s development aspirations in an era defined by global integration, technological disruption, and shifting geopolitical realities.”
According to him, law structures incentives, mediates relationships, and institutionalises accountability.
Akintayo added that every serious national conversation must engage with the legal frameworks that enabled development.
The NALT president urged law teachers to engage in scholarship that impacted society beyond academia, citing the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who taught that true professionalism means “doing something outside yourself, something to repair tears in your community.”
Akintayo decried Nigeria’s economic hardship, rising inflation, and unemployment, stating that these have deepened inequality and tested the country’s governance framework.
He expressed concern over the increasing number of law graduates and the pressure it placed on professional standards and ethics.
Akintayo described as “a proud moment” the appointment of Amupitan, a NALT trustee and former dean, as INEC chairman. He said the appointment offered the association an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to strengthening electoral jurisprudence and democratic governance.
“Electoral justice lies at the foundation of democratic legitimacy and sustainable development; a credible electoral system strengthens national cohesion and promotes public trust,” he said.
Akintayo challenged participants to interrogate how far Nigeria’s legal order had evolved to sustain inclusive growth and support innovation in a globalised economy.
“These are urgent imperatives. The answers must come from us, the teachers, the thinkers, and the custodians of Nigeria’s legal consciousness,” he said.
He commended the University of Abuja for hosting the conference for the first time since its establishment in 1988 and urged law teachers to mentor the next generation to use law as a tool for justice, inclusion, and national transformation.
Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of NALT, Professor Ademola Popoola, warned that globalisation, though hailed as a force for progress, had deepened inequality and left many developing nations worse off.
Popoola urged scholars and policymakers to rethink global economic policies and craft inclusive frameworks that promoted justice, sustainability, and shared prosperity.
•Vows to reduce pre-election litigations, seeks support at 56th NALT conference •Says with sound legal frame work, necessary reforms, losers won’t hesitate to congratulate winners Raheem Akingbolu The new Chairman
