President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, June 22, 2015 appointed Laolu Akande as Senior Special Assistant in charge of Communication for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Akande, who is a pastor is a former Editor of Saturday Tribune and would be leaving his job as North America Bureau Chief of the Guardian. He was said to have relocated to the US in 1997 when he was reportedly harassed by agents of late dictator, Sani Abacha for Saturday Tribune‘s critical stance to his the administration.
Akande holds the record for being the only Nigerian journalist to have interviewed a sitting American president in the White House when he interviewed former President George W. Bush. He had also previously worked for American tabloids like the Philadelphia Inquirer, and New York Newsday.
He has also served as a press officer and also as an advocacy consultant with the United Nations.