Chief Executive Officer of Multichoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, has been elected the Chairman of the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON).
The election, part of the 75th General Assembly and 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of BON, saw Ugbe defeat Sir. Godfrey Ohuabunwa of Multimesh Limited by 63 to 35 votes in a keenly contested election at the Coronation Hall of the Kano State Government House, Kano.
Ugbe Replaces Sa’aa Ibrahim, Director-General of the Kano-based ARTV and first woman to be appointed as Chairman of BON since August 11, 1988. Ibrahim served out her two-year tenure which commenced in October 2019.
John Ugbe joined MultiChoice in 2008 as an Engineer, and later ICT Manager. He left MultiChoice in 2003 to join MWeb where he went from IT manager to general manager of the company Nigeria. In 2011 he was appointed managing director of MultiChoice Nigeria Limited. Ugbe holds a degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO). He also holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool.
The FUTO alumnus had previously worked at Agip, Halliburton, NCR and MWeb, but was appointed Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria Limited In 2011.
Ugbe has a flair for art. When he was younger, he created artworks and paintings, which he sold.
The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria was founded in 1973 with over 140 members and they collectively own 250 radio and Television stations. BON is an association that is in charge of private and public broadcasters in Nigeria. It is in charge of monitoring the activities, coordination and management of televisions, radio and all media broadcasts of Nigeria.
Some of the cardinal objectives of BON, which Ugbe will pursue to achieve, include creating an enabling environment for radio, television and new media broadcasters to serve their audiences and to make a positive contribution to the development of our society; to improve the development of the broadcast industry in Nigeria while adopting cutting edge technologies in order to globally competitive in service.
Before the election of John Momoh as BON Chairman in July 2016, BON was traditionally headed by the DGs of Federal Government-owned media institutions. However, an amendment in the BON Constitution enabled a rotational system and elections into offices in 2016. He became the first private media owner to chair BON.
