President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved fresh three-year terms for the heads of two of Nigeria’s most prominent state-owned media organizations, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in a move signalling continuity in the administration’s media leadership.
The renewal covers Abdulhamid Salihu Dembos, Director-General of the NTA, and Ali Mohammed Ali, Managing Director of NAN. The decision was announced in a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the presidency, Tinubu first appointed Dembos and Ali to their respective roles on October 20, 2023. Their new terms are set to begin on October 20, 2026, marking the formal end of their first three-year tenure and the start of a second.
Dembos, an indigene of Yola, Adamawa State, brings decades of institutional experience to the role. He joined the NTA as an announcer at the Kaduna Station following his National Youth Service in 1989 and rose through the ranks to serve as General Manager at NTA Lokoja and NTA Kano.
He went on to retire in 2017 as Acting Zonal Director of the NTA Kaduna Network Centre before later returning to the organization as Executive Director of Marketing.
Beyond his NTA career, Dembos has a background in industry advocacy, having served as National President of the Radio, Television, Theatre, and Art Workers Union (RATTAWU).
Ali brings a strong journalism and academic pedigree to his role at NAN. He is described as a veteran journalist and media manager with over 30 years of experience, with a particular interest in media evolution and content development in the digital era, aimed at serving a diverse population through alternative news platforms.
His academic credentials include a first degree in English from Bayero University, Kano, a graduate degree in International Affairs from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communications from Bayero University, Kano.
In announcing the renewals, the presidency indicated that Tinubu urged both chief executives to justify the confidence reposed in them by continuing to demonstrate commitment to their organizations’ mandates and to the promotion of the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The NTA and NAN remain central pillars of Nigeria’s state media apparatus, the former as the country’s dominant public broadcaster and the latter as its official wire news service.
Retaining both executives for a second term suggests the Tinubu administration is prioritizing continuity in its information and strategic communications architecture ahead of the government’s midterm stretch, at a time when state media houses continue to play a key role in shaping public messaging around government policy.
Neither Dembos nor Ali has issued a public statement in reaction to the renewal at the time of this report.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
President Tinubu has handed both Abdulhamid Salihu Dembos (NTA) and Ali Mohammed Ali (NAN) a second three-year term, effective October 20, 2026, a clear signal that his administration is betting on continuity, not change, in its state media leadership as it doubles down on shaping public communication around the Renewed Hope Agenda.
