The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has renewed its call for the immediate removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, insisting that his continued stay in office poses a serious threat to the credibility of the country’s democratic process.

The council said Muslims across the federation would not “recognise or legitimise any election conducted under the leadership of an INEC chairman whose integrity is under such a cloud.”

President of the council, Sheikh Bashir Umar, made the call during the body’s 2026 Pre-Ramadan Lecture and General Assembly in Abuja.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Nigeria’s Future: Faith, Justice, and Leadership’, Umar insisted that the council’s demand was anchored on what he said is the INEC chairman’s “questionable antecedents, particularly a legal brief he authored which alleged the existence of a Christian genocide in Nigeria.”

The cleric went on: “This is not the first time the Council has taken this position. In the legal brief he personally sent, he sought to establish the existence of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, a position that is in direct conflict with the official stance of the Federal Government, which has categorically stated that no such genocide exists.”

The group also rejected narratives of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, adding that such claims fuel division and threaten national cohesion.

Also speaking, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Ecological Funds and member representing Kaura-Namoda/Birnin Magaji Federal Constituency of Zamfara State, Aminu Sani Jaji, lauded the timing of the lecture, given the country’s security and socio-political challenges.

Jaji said Ramadan remained a period of deep spiritual reflection for Muslims, adding that guidance from religious scholars was essential at a time when Nigeria was facing insecurity and heightened religious and political tensions.

He warned that unverified claims and divisive narratives, including allegations of religious persecution, could worsen national cohesion.

On his part, the Madakin Zazzau, Muhammadu Munir Ja’afaru, said that since its establishment, the council has served as a credible, principled, and courageous voice of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah.