By The New Diplomat Political Intelligence Desk
Reports emerging on Sunday have revealed that the management of PUNCH Nigeria Limited, one of the leading media companies in Nigeria has embarked on a massive shake-up.
It was gathered that as part of the massive shake-up ongoing in the PUNCH, two of the media organisation’s title editors, their deputies and key managers were forced to resign on Friday, June 21, 2024.
According to reports, the Editor of the daily title, Adedayo Oketola, and the Editor of PUNCH Weekend Titles, Olusola Fabiyi, were reportedly asked to resign.
Also, the Deputy Editor of The PUNCH, Olaniyi Odebode, was said to have been affected by the massive overhaul ongoing in the media organisation.
A source privy to the matter who spoke with the press said the management of PUNCH also reportedly redeployed the Deputy Editor, Weekend Titles, Yusuff Moshood, to PUNCH Digital, the company in charge of its digital platforms, as Deputy Editor.
Others affected by the reported overhaul are the Controller of Business and Finance, Bayode Olukotun; General Manager of Corporate Services, Olufolakemi Gbemuotor; and the Chief Accountant, Michael Adegbola.
Giving more details, the source said the company announced the reported decision to force the senior members of staff to resign on Friday based on a resolution of the company’s board.
The source also added that the affected editors were reportedly forced to give one-month notice in their resignation letters, and the affected top admin and finance officials were asked to give a three-month exit notice.
In a publication announcing the shake-up in the leadership of the editorial division on Saturday, the PUNCH acknowledged “their positive contributions to the company’s strategic objectives”.
The media organisation also acknowledged the contributions of Mr Odebode, the outgoing Deputy Editor, of The PUNCH, who served in various capacities at the organisation during his 31-year stint.
However, PUNCH was silent on the non-editorial managers affected by what it said was “part of a recent restructuring exercise across the company’s divisions”.
In the changes announced by the management, the Business Editor of The PUNCH, Oyetunji Abioye, was appointed the new editor of The PUNCH, in an acting capacity.
The company also announced Samson Folarin, the Features Editor of the paper’s Weekend Titles (Saturday PUNCH & Sunday PUNCH) as acting Editor, Weekend Titles.
The outgoing editor of The PUNCH, Mr Oketola, and the Editor of the newspaper’s Weekend Titles, Mr Fabiyi, will hand over to their successors on Monday, 22 July 2024.
The company also approved the appointment of the Editor, of PUNCH SportsExtra, ‘Tana Aiyejina, as the successor of Olaniyi Odebode, the Deputy Editor, of The PUNCH, in an acting capacity.
The company acknowledged the contributions of Mr Odebode, who served in various capacities in PUNCH during his 31-year stint and wished him well.
Tessy Igomu, the current Editor, of Healthwise, is to take over from Yusuff Moshood as the Deputy Editor, of Weekend Titles, in an acting capacity. Mr Moshood was redeployed to PUNCH Digital as the Deputy Editor.
According to the statement, the newly appointed acting editor of The PUNCH, Mr Abioye pledged to continue to uphold PUNCH’s time-tested journalistic and corporate values.
The newspaper’s publication on its website quoted Mr Abioye as expressing confidence that the values would enable him to effectively harness the opportunities presented by the current challenges in the media industry.
Mr Abioye, a graduate of Economics from Babcock University, joined PUNCH in 2007. He rose through the ranks, getting appointed as the Group Business Editor of The PUNCH in 2021.
Mr Folarin, the new acting editor of the Weekend Titles (Saturday PUNCH & Sunday PUNCH), is a graduate of Mass Communication of the University of Lagos who joined PUNCH as a correspondent in 2013.
“This is a huge task, but I pledge to apply myself to the job to ensure that PUNCH’s ascendancy in the media industry is sustained,” he said of his appointment.
Also, the current online editor, Olalekan Adetayo, was redesignated the Editor, PUNCH Digital, the restructured digital operations unit that incorporates all of PUNCH’s digital publications.
A 2008 graduate of Journalism of the Lagos State University, Adetayo joined PUNCH in 2001 as a reporter.
Mr Aiyejina is a graduate of English of Ambrose Alli University and the pioneer Editor of the PUNCH Group’s sports title. He joined PUNCH in 2008 as a correspondent.
Mrs Igomu, a graduate of Mass Communication at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, joined PUNCH as a Chief Correspondent in 2020.
Mr Moshood, a holder of a Master’s in Public Administration from Lagos State University, joined PUNCH in 2020 as a Sub-Assistant Editor in the Online Department.
