Amupitan Appoints Ex-Punch Editor Oketola as INEC Chief Press Secretary

Amupitan Appoints Ex-Punch Editor Oketola as INEC Chief Press Secretary

Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has appointed Adedayo Oketola, a former editor at The Punch, as his Chief Press Secretary (CPS).

Oketola succeeds Rotimi Oyekanmi, who served as CPS under the immediate past INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu. The appointment was announced in a bulletin released on Monday, signed by Victoria Eta-Messi, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity.

Oketola’s appointment letter, dated October 24, was signed by Rose Oriaran-Anthony, Secretary to the Commission. In the letter, Oriaran-Anthony described Oketola as a “multi-award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of experience,” urging him to carry out his duties with professionalism while upholding INEC’s values of transparency and integrity.

Prior to his new role, Oketola held various editorial positions at The Punch, including News Editor, Business Editor, and Assistant News Editor (Politics) for the Saturday edition. His reporting spanned multiple sectors such as information and communications technology, energy, labour, business, and the economy.

Oketola has received several awards, both locally and internationally. He was named Telecoms Reporter of the Year at the Nigeria Media Merit Awards (NMMA) in 2012 and Mobile Money Reporter of the Year at the Kalahari Mobile Money Awards in 2013. He was also a finalist at the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards in London in 2012 and 2013.

INEC praised Oketola for his “inclusive reporting and journalistic excellence” and expressed confidence in his ability to strengthen the commission’s communication strategy.