IPC Executive Director Lanre Arogundade Assumes IFEX Leadership Roles

The Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), Lanre Arogundade, has been elected Deputy Convenor of the 13-member Council of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) and appointed to its Governance Committee.

Arogundade was first elected to the IFEX Council at the organisation’s reconvened Annual General Meeting on July 16, 2026.

His new leadership roles were unanimously approved at the inaugural meeting of the 2026–2029 IFEX Council held on August 5, 2026.

At the meeting, Layal Bahnam, Programme Manager at the Maharat Foundation, was appointed Convenor, while Ruth Kronenburg, Executive Director of Free Press Unlimited, was appointed Treasurer.

As Deputy Convenor, Arogundade will support the Convenor in providing leadership to the Council and assume relevant responsibilities in the Convenor’s absence.

His duties will include chairing Council and members’ meetings, convening Council committees when necessary, supporting the implementation of Council decisions, encouraging active participation by Council members and contributing to the effective governance of the IFEX network.

He will also serve on the IFEX Governance Committee, where he will contribute to strengthening the organisation’s governance framework, institutional effectiveness and strategic oversight.

Reacting to the appointments, the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Chairman of the IPC Governing Board, and former IFEX Convenor and Council member, Edetaen Ojo, congratulated Arogundade on his new responsibilities.

Ojo said the appointments came at a significant time for global efforts to defend press freedom, particularly amid growing threats to media freedom and journalists.

He described IFEX as a leading force in defending freedom of expression and supporting journalists around the world, adding that Arogundade’s new responsibilities would help strengthen the network’s collective advocacy for press freedom and access to information.

Responding to his appointment, Arogundade said the positions represented more than leadership roles, describing them as an opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of a network whose collective voice, he said, had never been more important.

He pledged to work with the Convenor, fellow Council members and the wider IFEX membership to strengthen the network’s impact and reinforce collective efforts against what he described as encumbrances on free speech, independent journalism and access to information.

The IPC has been a member of IFEX since 2016 and is part of a global community of more than 100 independent civil society organisations working to advance freedom of expression and journalists’ rights.

Established in 1992, IFEX pursues its objectives through advocacy, research, policy engagement, emergency assistance and international solidarity.

The network also participates in international policy discussions on media freedom, digital rights and civic space through its membership of the Media Freedom Coalition’s Consultative Network and the Freedom Online Coalition’s Advisory Network.

The IPC said Arogundade’s new roles would further contribute to the organisation’s longstanding commitment to promoting press freedom, access to information and the protection of journalists’ rights.