BY COBHAM NSA – Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Hakama Sidi-Ali, has been crowned Nigeria’s 2026 Spokesperson of the Year, completing a historic three-year winning streak at the country’s premier public relations honours.
Sidi-Ali bagged the ultimate Public Relations accolade as a milestone award that recognises her exceptional leadership in strategic communication, her proactive engagement with financial stakeholders, and her clarity in projecting Nigeria’s evolving monetary and economic policies during critical fiscal periods.
The occasion was the 6th National Spokespersons Awards (NSA) and the 4th Economic Confidential Annual Lecture, organised by Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), publishers of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential and Spokespersons Digest in Abuja.
It marks an unprecedented hat-trick in the history of the awards as she became the first communications expert to transition from winning sector-specific titles in two consecutive years to capturing the grand, overall Spokesperson of the Year crown
Capping a dominant three-year run in national public relations, Mrs Sidi-Ali’s achievement comes just three years after she broke another historic barrier when CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso appointed her in 2023 as the first female spokesperson in the apex Bank’s 66-year history.
Her rise through Nigeria’s premier communications awards has been defined by consistency and measurable impact. In 2024, she won the Outstanding Spokesperson – Banking Sector award, becoming the first female banking communicator to receive the honour and retained the same title in 2025.
Unsurprisingly, Mrs Sidi-Ali’s her quiet revolution at the apex bank remained outstanding and the Awards jury couldn’t look away, elevating her to Spokesperson of the Year 2026 in a definitive acknowledgment that her footprint had broken past the traditional walls of banking.
Not just managing headlines, she weaponized clarity to shape national economic thought, fortify public trust in the CBN, and forcefully project Nigeria’s monetary policy into the global spotlight.
According to the organisers, her historic feat is no stroke of luck. She survived a grueling, four-tiered gauntlet of evaluation: raw impact, fearless innovation, viral campaign reach, and undeniable evidence, by dismantling the old, reactive playbook to build a proactive communications powerhouse from scratch.
Through relentless MPC briefings, targeted stakeholder combat, sharp investor relations, and high-stakes international advocacy, she transformed the hitherto perceived CBN’s fortress into a masterclass of transparency and all these initiatives earned international recognition, with the apex bank’s communications campaign emerging among the finalist at the 2026 International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Awards.
Recalled a continent-wide public vote sealed victory for Sidi-Ali early this year as she clinched the African Iconic Female Spokesperson of the Year at the 2026 AIWRA awards.
This year’s competition was fierce, drawing 171 nationwide nominations and Chairperson of the Awards Jury, Professor Saudat Abdulbaqi explained that with the screening process requiring strict proof of measurable impact and clarity, only 30 finalists across 15 categories survived the rigorous cut.
Assuredly, she said the adjudication process was transparent, evidence-driven and designed to ensure that recognition reflected demonstrable professional excellence rather than popularity.
In his remarks, Chief Executive Officer of IMPR, Alhaji Yushau A. Shuaib, said the National Spokespersons Awards and the Economic Confidential Annual Lecture were established to celebrate professional excellence and sharpen strategic communication nationwide, stating further that the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) has officially granted Conference Status to the Awards, a prestigious upgrade that elevates Nigeria’s communication landscape onto the world stage.
The 2026 edition celebrated top communication leaders in government, corporate, and non-profit sectors and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, who delivered the keynote address, received an award for leading anti-corruption reforms.
The award recipients include Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya (Kano State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs) who bagged Crisis Communicator of the Year; Borno State Governor’s aide on Print and Digital Communications, Abdurrahman Ahmed Bundi secured the Digital Communication category; Nigeria Customs Service’s ASC Folusho Adeogun took home Young Communicator of the Year.
Others are Celestine Achi, winner of the Author/Scholar award for pioneering AI in public relations; Andy Odeh of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) won the Corporate Communication category; Basheer Luqman Olarewaju won in Social Media; the FRSC claimed the Public Affairs title, and Integrated Indigo Limited emerged as PR Agency of the Year.
Six Nigerian institutions claimed top honours at the event: MAAUN won Knowledge Hub, NITDA–CCC took Crisis Management, Nigerian Women in PR won Publication, TETFund secured Media Relations, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation won Employee Relations, and the NIPR Kaduna Chapter triumphed in Event Management.
NIPR President Dr. Ike Neliaku chaired the prestigious event graced by Voice of Nigeria Director-General Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace, representing the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris. Also present were Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) Chairman and former Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade (rtd), and Professor Sule Ya’u Sule. Diplomats, security chiefs, academics, and senior PR experts.
With the organisers describing this edition as the most competitive since the awards began, Mrs Sidi-Ali’s rise continues to break institutional barriers, proving that top-tier strategic communication relies on professionalism, credibility, consistency, and measurable impact.
For Nigeria’s public relations and corporate communications sectors, her award is a major personal achievement and a defining moment for the entire industry.
