Nigeria’s Ibietan Re-Elected APRA Secretary-General as African PR Body Expands Leadership

Published By Jerry Adesewo On Jul 21, 2026

Nigeria’s Ibietan Re-Elected APRA Secretary-General as African PR Body Expands Leadership

By Jerry Adesewo

Nigerian public relations scholar and communications strategist Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan has been re-elected as Secretary-General of the African Public Relations Association (APRA), reinforcing Nigeria’s growing influence in shaping professional public relations practice across the African continent.

Ibietan was returned unopposed alongside Mr. Arik Karani of Kenya, who was re-elected President, and Professor Michele Mekeme of Cameroon, who retained the position of Vice President during APRA’s Annual General Meeting held in Swakopmund, Namibia.

The election took place on the sidelines of the Effective Communicators Conference, attended by senior African leaders, including Namibia’s Vice President Lucia Witbooi, Botswana’s Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe, Governor of Namibia’s Erongo Region Natalia Goagoses, and Namibia’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Emma Theofelus.

In a statement issued by the APRA Secretariat, delegates unanimously renewed the mandate of the association’s three elected executives after commending the outgoing leadership for what it described as outstanding performance over the past two years.

The General Assembly cited significant achievements under the leadership team, including strengthening national and regional public relations associations across Africa, expanding strategic engagement with Ministers of Information and Communication Technology and other key stakeholders, and establishing stronger governance and operational frameworks to improve the association’s effectiveness and long-term sustainability.

Ibietan’s re-election is widely seen as a vote of confidence in his stewardship of APRA’s Secretariat and his contribution to repositioning the continental body as a stronger voice for strategic communication, professional ethics, and institutional collaboration across Africa.

A respected communications scholar and public policy expert, Ibietan has played a central role in coordinating the association’s programmes, governance reforms, and continental engagements during the past two years.

As part of its institutional reforms, the General Assembly also ratified a new APRA Constitution, significantly expanding the Association’s Executive Council.

The revised constitution creates new leadership positions, including Treasurer, Assistant Secretary-General, and six Regional Coordinators representing East Africa, West Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, Francophone Africa, and the Indian Ocean and African-associated Islands.

Delegates mandated the re-elected Executive Council to complete the process of filling the newly created offices before the 37th APRA Annual Conference, which will be hosted alongside the World Public Relations Forum (WPRF) in Abuja, Nigeria, from November 15 to 21, 2026.

The upcoming conference is expected to bring hundreds of communication professionals, academics, policymakers, and industry leaders from across the world to Nigeria, further cementing the country’s position as a major hub for strategic communication and public relations discourse on the continent.

Speaking on behalf of the Executive Council after the election, APRA President Arik Karani thanked delegates for renewing the leadership’s mandate and pledged to build on the gains recorded over the past two years.

He said the association would focus on the next phase of its strategic plan, including deeper collaboration with the African Union (AU) in supporting the implementation of the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa.

For Nigeria, Ibietan’s re-election represents not only personal recognition but also another opportunity for the country to play a leading role in advancing professional communication, public diplomacy, and ethical public relations practice across Africa, particularly as Abuja prepares to host the continent’s largest gathering of public relations professionals later this year.