INEC Chairman Joach Ojo Amupitan spoke at the 56th annual national conference of the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers (NALT) at the University of Abuja yesterday, stating that if political parties followed their constitutions and fully complied with the Electoral Act, the number of pre-election litigations would plummet dramatically. Also yesterday, Amupitan announced the appointment of Mr. Adedayo Oketola, the former editor of The PUNCH newspaper, as his Chief Press Secretary (CPS).
He urged the National Assembly to strengthen the country's electoral legal frameworks to ensure credible and fair elections, saying, "My hope is that if we get the law right, even the losers will congratulate the winner." If we do it right, the number of electoral litigations will decrease even before the elections.
“Political parties, if they follow their constitution, they follow the Electoral Act, and follow the Constitution, I can assure you, the pre-election jurisprudence and litigation alone will diminish, and so it’s going to be one of my top priorities to ensure that the law is used as a means of change to reduce the number of electoral jurisprudence and litigation.”
The three-day conference, themed “Law, National Development, and Economic Sustainability in a Globalized World,” brought together law teachers, jurists, policymakers, students, and legal practitioners from across the country.
In his remarks, NALT President and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Prof. John Akintayo, highlighted the crucial role of law in driving inclusive growth, fostering good governance, and strengthening economic resilience.
In a related development, the new INEC Chairman, Prof. Amupitan, appointed former PUNCH newspaper editor Adedayo Oketola as his Chief Press Secretary (CPS). Oketola succeeds Rotimi Oyekanmi, who held the position under the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The commission announced the appointment to journalists yesterday. Oketola, an award-winning journalist and seasoned newsroom leader, brings nearly two decades of experience in Nigeria’s media industry, having previously served as The PUNCH’s News Editor, Business Editor, and Assistant Editor for News & Politics, Saturday PUNCH, for over three years.
