A NIGERIAN, Malam Mohammed Garba, has been elected the new president of the Federation of African Journalists, an umbrella association of journalists in Africa.
Garba, who is also the president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, was elected in Moroccan city of Casablanca on Sunday.
This was according to a statement issued in Abuja on Monday and signed by Mr Joseph Mutah, the Press Secretary to the Minister of Information.
“Garba had earlier been elected into the nine-member Steering Committee of the continental body, which unanimously elected him to lead the group for the next three years,’’ it said.
The statement added that Mrs. Louisa Rogerio from Angola was elected the Vice President, while Mr Stanislas Nkundiye from the Democratic Republic of Congo bagged the post of Treasurer.
It said that 73 delegates from 28 countries voted during the election.
The statement quoted Mr Gbenga Onayiga, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the Federation of African Journalists, as saying that the election was observed by the President, and Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists.
It said that Garba, who is also the President of the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), thanked delegates for the confidence reposed in him.
“He assured the delegates of his determination to take the association to greater heights,’’ the statement added.
It also said that a Nigerian, Fatimah Abdulkareem, was elected as the Vice Chairman of the newly formed “Pan-African Gender Council’’.