Oredola Adeola

The new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has approved the appointment of Adedayo Oketola, a former editor of The PUNCH, as his Chief Press Secretary.

Victoria Eta-Messi, INEC’s Editor-in-Chief and Director of Voter Education and Publicity, confirmed the appointment in a daily bulletin released on Monday.

According to her, Oketola’s appointment was formally conveyed in a letter signed by the Commission’s Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, dated Friday, October 24, 2025.

Advisors Reports gathered that the appointment became necessary following the exit of Rotimi Oyekanmi, who previously served as Chief Press Secretary to the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

In her congratulatory message, Oriaran-Anthony urged Oketola to carry out his duties with professionalism while upholding the commission’s core values of transparency and integrity.

She stated that INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan, upon assuming office last Thursday, reaffirmed his commitment to integrity, transparency, and discipline in managing Nigeria’s electoral process, pledging to prioritise staff welfare and strengthen teamwork and accountability across the commission.

The bulletin described Oketola as a “multi-award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of experience,” recognised for his inclusive reporting and journalistic excellence.

He is a seasoned journalist, author, and strategic communications expert with over twenty years of impactful experience in journalism, editorial leadership, and media innovation.

The appointment comes after the exit of Rotimi Oyekanmi, who served as Chief Press Secretary to the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

Oketola, who served as Editor of The PUNCH—Nigeria’s most widely read and influential newspaper—from 2022 to 2024, led the publication to consecutive Newspaper of the Year wins and earned multiple Editor of the Year awards from the Nigeria Media Merit Awards (NMMA) in 2023 and the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) in 2024.

He previously made history as the first journalist in The PUNCH’s 50-year history to edit both Saturday PUNCH and Sunday PUNCH simultaneously, after serving as Group Business Editor, News Editor, and News & Politics Editor.

Oketola’s journalism career spans ICT, energy, labour, business, and politics, earning him over 15 prestigious local and international awards, fellowships, and recognitions. A two-time recipient of the Zimeo Excellence in Media Awards (Johannesburg, 2015; Nairobi, 2016), he was also named Editor of the Year at The Industry Awards in 2023.

An alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University and the University of Ibadan, Oketola also holds professional certifications from Boston University’s New England Centre for Investigative Reporting and the National Open University of Nigeria, among others.

He is an Associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and Lions Clubs International, District 404B2 Nigeria.

A recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Fellowship under the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), Oketola currently serves as President of the IVLP Alumni Association in Nigeria.

His debut book, The Catalyst: Nigerian Tech Evolution Through a Journalist’s Lens, was released in 2024, following his historic Exaugural Lecture — the first by a Nigerian newspaper editor — marking his transition from editorship and two decades of distinguished service in journalism.