Former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has kicked against calls for the removal of Professor Joash Amupitan as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The calls are coming from the Shariah Council of Nigeria as a result of an article from the past written by Amupitan concerning genocide against Christians at the hands of Islamic militants.

The Council warned that Muslims would neither recognise nor legitimise any election conducted under Amupitan’s leadership, citing what it described as serious integrity and neutrality concerns.

The President of the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria, Sheikh Bashir Umar, made the position known on Tuesday during the Council’s 2026 Annual Pre-Ramadan Lecture and General Assembly in Abuja, themed “Nigeria’s Future: Faith, Justice, and Leadership.”

Umar stated that the Council’s position was founded on what it called the INEC chairman’s dubious background, especially a legal brief he allegedly wrote that claimed there was a Christian genocide in Nigeria — a assertion the Federal Government has consistently denied.

“This is not the first time the Council is taking this position,” Umar said. “In a legal brief he personally sent, he sought to establish the existence of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, a position that is directly at odds with the official stance of the Federal Government, which has categorically stated that no such genocide exists.”

Reacting, Shehu Sani urged concerned parties to rather support Amupitan to deliver a credible and transparent election.

He wrote on X, "Threats, mistrusts and casting aspersions on the INEC chairman is not the way to go. What is most important is that the Head of the electoral body should be tasked, ,monitored and supported to conduct credible and transparent elections for the sustenance of our democracy."

Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the call for Amupitan's removal.

Reacting to the development, Northern CAN leaders, in a statement jointly signed by its chairman, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, and secretary-general, Bishop Mohammed Naga, questioned the motive behind the call.

They asked who was sponsoring it and why such interests were hiding under the platform of a religious body.

ASA