Shari’ah council rejects tax reforms, demands removal of INEC chairman

The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has rejected government tax reforms and called for the immediate removal and prosecution of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, over alleged compromise of integrity and religious bias.

The position was made known on Wednesday in Abuja during the Council’s 2026 annual pre-Ramadan lecture and general assembly, themed “Nigeria’s future: Faith, justice and leadership.” The event was attended by Islamic scholars and delegates from across the country.

In a welcome address, the President of the Council, Dr Bashir Aliyu Umar, declared that no election conducted under what he described as a cloud of compromised integrity could be considered credible. He said the SCSN would not recognise any election overseen by Professor Amupitan.

According to Umar, the call for Amupitan’s removal followed a legal brief allegedly authored by the INEC chairman in which he asserted the existence of a Christian genocide in Nigeria — a claim the Federal Government has since categorically dismissed. Umar said the position placed Amupitan in direct conflict with Nigeria’s official stance and raised serious concerns about his neutrality.

“We demand the immediate removal and prosecution of the INEC chairman and declare that no election conducted under a cloud of compromised integrity can be recognised as credible,” Umar said.

He added that Amupitan’s alleged stance was unacceptable and demonstrated religious bias, stressing that Nigeria required an electoral umpire whose integrity was beyond question.

“We need someone whose integrity is not compromised. Because of the compromise of his integrity, the honourable thing for him to do is to resign. If not, the government should dismiss him or at least compulsorily retire him from service,” he said.

Beyond electoral issues, the SCSN also rejected government fiscal policies it said were capable of imposing unjust hardship on ordinary Nigerians, with particular reference to the ongoing tax reform initiative. Umar insisted that all fiscal policies must be equitable, humane and socially responsible.

He further raised concern over allegations that some agents of the executive arm of government substantially altered tax reform bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly. Describing such actions as criminal and unconstitutional, Umar called on the National Assembly to conduct public hearings and a comprehensive forensic review of all laws passed since the inauguration of the 10th Assembly.

“It is our considered view that the National Assembly should conduct a public hearing and, more importantly, undertake a comprehensive forensic review of all laws passed since the commencement of this 10th Assembly,” he said.

On security, the Council condemned terrorism in all its forms and urged the Federal Government to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property through decisive security actions and peaceful reconciliation with aggrieved communities.

The SCSN also rejected what it described as false and inflammatory narratives of a Christian genocide, warning that such discourse could fuel division, mistrust and national instability. It further opposed foreign interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs and the establishment of any foreign military base on Nigerian soil.

Umar reaffirmed that the religious freedom of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah was constitutionally guaranteed and non-negotiable.

Also speaking at the event, the Madakin Zazzau, Mallam Muhammadu Munir Ja’afaru, described the Shari’ah Council as a principled and courageous voice of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah. He said the Council had consistently engaged on national issues beyond religion, promoting justice, unity, peaceful coexistence and national development through guidance rooted in the Qur’an and Sunnah.