President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday appointed Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, a veteran broadcaster, as Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
Ilelah replaced Professor Armstrong Idachaba who has been acting in that capacity.
Information and culture minister, Lai Mohammed, announced the appointment of Ilelah in a statement in Abuja on Friday.
He said Ilelah’s appointment is for a tenure of five years in the first instance.
Idachaba’s removal was announced four days after he ordered all broadcast stations in the country to go off Twitter.
Background
Ilelah attended Kobi primary school in Bauchi, and Junior Secondary School Misau.
He graduated from Bayero University Kano, and worked with Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Bauchi station.
He left Nigeria with his family for the defunct Soviet Union, where he worked as a journalist for many years before he moved to China.
The new NBS boss, is a politician, and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He ran for the Bauchi South Senatorial seat under the APC platform in 2019, but lost to PDP.
Before his appointment, he also worked with the BBC World Service.
