The Editor-in-Chief/Chief Operating Officer of PREMIUM TIMES Nigeria, Muskilu Mojeed and the General Manager, Business and Strategy of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust, Ahmed I. Shekarau have assumed office as president and secretary, respectively of the Nigeria chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI).
Mojeed emerged unopposed while Mr Shekarau defeated Dr. Qasim Akinreti, deputy director, Digital Media, at the Voice of Nigeria (VON) during a session of the General Assembly of the Institute held physically and virtually in Abuja last Thursday.
A statement issued on Friday in Abuja by the Executive Board member of the global body of the Institute, Raheem Adedoyin, also announced the emergence, unopposed, of Rafatu Salami, assistant director, Digital Media of VON as treasurer.
The statement disclosed that the General Assembly mandated the newly constituted exco to work towards filling the vacant positions of deputy president, assistant general secretary, financial secretary and legal adviser, which were not filled yesterday because there were no nominations into them.
The election was conducted by a three-member Electoral Panel, which had the Chairman of Daily Trust, Kabiru Yusuf; the founder of Radio Now, Kadaria Ahmed and Mr Adedoyin as members.
The oath of office for the newly constituted exco members was administered immediately after the general assembly by a Lawyer/Notary Public, Zainab Musa.
The swearing-in of the exco was witnessed by the global IPI Executive Board member, Mr Adedoyin, and members of the Nigerian chapter of the Institute, among whom were a Director in Media Trust Limited, Mannir Dan-Ali; Chairman of the Editorial Board of Blueprint, Zainab Suleiman Okino; Deputy Editor, 21st Century Chronicle, Catherine Agbo, and Dr. Akinreti.
Messrs. Mojeed and Shekarau took over from Mallam Kabiru Yusuf and Mr Adedoyin, who had piloted the affairs of the body for years as chairman and secretary, respectively, and have since been elevated to the Board of Trustees of the organisation. Other members of the Board of Trustees of IPI Nigeria are Ms Ahmed; the Managing Director of ThisDay Newspapers, Eniola Bello, veteran journalist and Publisher of Newsport Online, Folu Olamiti, and former Head of Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Mojeed, who expressed the appreciation of his team to all members of IPI Nigeria for the confidence reposed in them, assured that the new exco would work harder towards deepening press freedom and accelerating free speech in Nigeria, and the world at large.