Dickson backs INEC chair nominee, dismisses allegations of partisan bias ….Says Professor Amupitan’s SAN status is historic
Senator Seriake Dickson, former Governor of Bayelsa State and current representative of Bayelsa West in the National Assembly, has declared his support for the nomination of Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Speaking to journalists and members of the Senate Press Corps in Abuja on Tuesday, Dickson addressed ongoing concerns about the nominee’s alleged political affiliations, particularly claims that Professor Amupitan served on President Bola Tinubu’s legal team during the 2023 election petition tribunal.
His words: “As a member of the Committee on Electoral Matters, I am aware of the controversies about his alleged membership of the President’s legal team in the last election petitions.
“I have made a lot of inquiries, and I have been told that the nominee was not a member of the President’s legal team.
”The name is being confused with another professor, Professor Osipitan, also a Professor of Law, but in Lagos. The nominee, Amupitan, is from UNIJOS, ” he stated.
Senator Dickson emphasised the importance of distinguishing between professional roles and political loyalty, particularly for legal practitioners.
According to him, “While requiring impartiality of nominees, in the case of professionals, we should look beyond evidence of professional engagement and probe to discover actual partisan or political involvement.
“As lawyers, by their professional calling and ethos, they are duty-bound to accept briefs from persons and parties who retain their services.
”They are not tied to any particular politician or political party, ” he added.
Even in the hypothetical case that the nominee had represented the President, Dickson argued that legal representation alone would not automatically imply partisanship or disqualify the nominee.
“Even if it were so, I would still have required further evidence of political or partisan involvement in a political sense, not just professional.
“We can’t confine professionals like lawyers or doctors from attending to politicians or political parties,” he said.
Dickson described the nomination as a welcome development, particularly applauding the President’s choice of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a legal academic of high standing.
“I consider it refreshing the nomination of a Professor of Law of his standing, who is also, for the first time, a Senior Advocate appointed into this office at this critical period,” the former governor stated.
He further stressed that while academic credentials are notable, the SAN designation carries an added weight of professional integrity and public scrutiny.
He also said while being a professor is evidence of scholarship which may not be enough to speak for integrity, I believe that the additional consideration of being a Senior Advocate, the first in our history to head INEC, speaks volumes.
Senator Dickson called on the nominee, if confirmed, to uphold the independence and integrity of the electoral commission and to be conscious of the weight of history.
“It gives an opportunity for the nominee, when confirmed, to be alive to the demands of the office and to be conscious of the judgment of men, of God, and of posterity, ” he said.
The Senate is expected to begin screening Professor Amupitan following the referral of his nomination by the Senate President, after the President’s letter was read on the floor and approved by the National Council of State.
