Renowned publisher, and broadcast journalist, scholar, and former President of the Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA,, Chief Uchenna Cyril Anioke, PhD, has been re elected as a Director and member of the Executive Committee of the Geneva based International Publishers Association (IPA) for another three years.
The IPA is the world’s largest publishers association, comprising one hundred and five members in over eighty four countries.
According to reports, Dr Anioke was re elected and announced by Jose Borghino, IPA Secretary General, on twenty fifth November 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 2025 General Assembly of the organization, after the results of the online elections that spanned two weeks, from seventh to twenty first November 2025.
Recall that Dr Anioke was first elected into the Executive Committee of the IPA in 2022 prior to this new mandate.
Speaking with newsmen after the announcement, Dr Anioke stated that his re election is a call to duty and an opportunity to represent his state, Nigeria, and Africa for another term.
He stated that he is committed to championing the cause of opposing censorship that has bedeviled the publishing industry across the globe, adding that he would always remain a literary and cultural ambassador to his state and Nigeria.
“It is a call again to duty. A call again to represent my state, Enugu State, my country, Nigeria and my continent Africa at the global stage for the next three years beginning in January 2026.
“With God on my side, I will remain an uncommon literary and cultural ambassador of Enugu State, Nigeria and Africa. I will continue with my international colleagues to oppose censorship. I will also vigorously promote copyrights and freedom to publish.”
Reports also have it that the Secretary General, during the ongoing General Assembly, announced the results as well as their acceptance of two new members. He also thanked the members for their commitment toward the organization’s growth, especially for participating and voting in the 2025 IPA elections.
In addition to the election of Dr Anioke, the IPA confirmed the admission of new member organizations that will formally join the Association from First January 2026. The newly admitted bodies include the Georgian Book Association and the Latvian Publishers Association as provisional members, while the Bulgarian Book Association has transitioned from provisional membership to full membership.
During the General Assembly, the IPA released the complete results of the 2025 elections. For the Executive Committee, Helga Frese Resch of Germany was elected to succeed Christian Schumacher Gebler for the statutory seat held by the Boersenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels. Karen Phillips of the United Kingdom was selected for the statutory seat held by the Publishers Association United Kingdom, while Chunchi Yu of China was reappointed for the statutory seat held by the Publishers Association of China.
The successful candidates for the four open Director Seats are Ana Baijars of Finland, Dante Cid of Brazil, Sheikh Faisal Bin Sheikh Mansor of Malaysia and Uchenna Cyril Anioke of Nigeria.
For the Freedom to Publish Committee, the four elected members are Roberto Banchik of Mexico, Jessica Saenger of Germany, Jacob Sondergaard of Denmark and Yoshiaki Yoshino of Japan.
The Membership Committee also recorded five newly elected members. They are Catherine Blache of France, Samuel Kolawole of Nigeria, Giulia Marangoni of Italy, Ramesh Mittal of India and Karine Pansa of Brazil.
These announcements were made by the Secretary General of the Association, Jose Borghino, who expressed appreciation to all members for their continued commitment to the growth of the global publishing community and for their active participation in the 2025 electoral process.
