Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has appointed the publisher and chief executive of TRACE News Magazine, Mr. Ebenezer Adeniyan as his Chief Press Secretary. Also, he named four others in the first set of appointments he made following his swearing-in on Wednesday.
These were contained in a statement signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Governor, Omojuwa Olusegun, and made available to reporters after the swearing-in of the governor.
Other appointments made by the governor included:
- Special Assistant (Political Matters) to the Governor, Smart Omodunbi, Jnr;
- Special Assistant (New Media) to the governor, Abire Sunday Olugbenga;
- Special Assistant (Photography) to the governor, Motunrayo Oyedele; and
- Special Assistant (Domestic and Government House) to the governor, Dr. Temitayo Iperepolu.
According to the statement, their appointments took immediate effect.
The former acting governor was sworn in as the substantive governor of the state after the passage of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Wednesday.
Akeredolu had been on medical leave in Germany where he was being treated for prostate cancer since December 13, 2023, having written a letter to the state House of Assembly informing it of his transmission of power to his deputy, Aiyedatiwa, in line with the constitutional provision.
Aiyedatiwa was sworn in at the Cocoa Conference Hall of the Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, Akure, by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Olusegun Odusola, who prayed that the soul of the reposed be granted help.
He also prayed for guidance for the new governor as he leads the state.
Aiyedatiwa at exactly 5:15p.m took the oath of allegiance and oath of office, respectively, under the supervision of the Chief Judge.
A multiple award-winning journalist, and former House of Assembly aspirant for the Akure South Constituency 1 seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adeniyan served as a former National Ex-Officio and former State Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ.
He was the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the APC campaign for a former bye-election into the House of Representatives in Akure South/Akure North federal constituency, which was won by the party.
Born into the Owaruayo Family at Oritagun in Akure, Adeniyan began his journalism career in 2000 at the Ondo State Government-owned The Hope Newspaper published by Owena Press Limited, as a trainee reporter before having a one-year stint as the Ondo/Ekiti State Correspondent for Treasure News Magazine, Lagos.
He later became a Staff Reporter of The Hope Newspaper on January 1, 2002. Between 2002 and 2006, he was a member of the Press Crew to Governor Adebayo Adefarati and Governor Olusegun Agagu.
In April 2009, he was appointed the Chief Sub Editor of The Hope Newspaper, a position he held until November of the same year when he resigned voluntarily and joined Sunshine Daily Watch (now rested), the first daily newspaper published in Ondo State, as Managing Editor and later Editor.
“In January 2011, he left Sunshine Daily Watch to start TRACE News Magazine, a weekly news magazine published in the state.
He was the Public Relations Officer of the Students’ Union Government of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti in the 1998/1999 academic session; the Vice Chairman and later Chairman of the Owena Press Chapel of the NUJ between 2006 and 2008. He was elected President of the Owena Press Limited Cooperatives Multipurpose Society in 2009.
Between 2011 and 2014, he served as the General Secretary of the Ondo State Council of the NUJ. During that period, he was an active member of the State Executive Committee of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ondo State Council and State Executive Committee, Public Service Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), Ondo State Council.
He also served as a National Ex-Officio of the NUJ between 2015 and 2017.
