AS the buildup to the 2027 general election progresses, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State, Dr Mutiu Agboke, and the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, CP Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, on Thursday, warned on the potential danger of unprofessional reportage in election coverage in the country.
Another speaker was a former president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr Lanre Ogundipe, represented by Dr Olumide Adediji, a chief lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa campus, Oyo State
The speakers warned that misinformation, inflammatory reporting and poor verification are capable of undermining electoral integrity, public confidence and national peace.
They spoke at an election sensitisation lecture organised by the NUJ, Tribune Chapel, with Dr Agboke calling for a stronger collaboration among INEC, journalists, fact-checkers, technology companies, civil society organisations and citizens to combat election misinformation and disinformation.
He distinguished misinformation as false information shared without intent to deceive, while disinformation involves deliberate fabrication or manipulation.
He also identified malinformation as genuine information presented in a misleading context to cause harm.
Agboke said the 2023 elections demonstrated the scale of the challenge, noting that monitoring by DUBAWA and the Nigeria Fact-Checkers’ Coalition examined 127 election-related claims. He said videos accounted for 69 of the claims, followed by images with 41 and multimodal text with 17.
The REC identified WhatsApp and other social media platforms as major channels for spreading false information and warned that artificial intelligence has worsened the situation through deepfakes and manipulated audio, images and videos.
He said false information could confuse voters about registration and voting procedures, discourage participation, inflame ethnic and political tensions and erode confidence in election results.
Agboke advocated sustained fact-checking, media literacy and public awareness campaigns before, during and after elections. He also urged INEC to maintain accessible verification channels and technology companies to develop tools capable of detecting misinformation in Nigerian languages.
Similarly, CP Olugbenga cautioned journalists against sensational and unverified reports, urging them to adopt “verify before you publish” as a guiding principle.
He cautioned journalists covering electoral violence to always distinguish facts from allegations and opinions, as well as avoid inflammatory ethnic, religious or political labels, and verify the date, location and context of photographs and videos circulating online.
The police commissioner further warned against publishing sensitive information that could compromise security operations, urging journalists to respect the dignity and privacy of victims, children and vulnerable persons.
He described the police and media as partners rather than adversaries, stressing that both institutions shared the responsibility of protecting the public, promoting peace and strengthening confidence in democratic institutions.
Delivering his aspect of the Lecture, titled: “The Journalist: Conscience of the Nation and Sentinel of Democracy—The Role of Journalism in Promoting Peaceful Elections, National Cohesion and Democratic Integrity,” Ogundipe, represented by Dr Adediji Olumide, Chief Lecturer and Head of the Department of Mass Communication, Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, said journalism remains a constitutional responsibility and critical pillar of democratic accountability.
Ogundipe cited Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates the press to uphold the fundamental objectives of the Constitution and ensure government’s responsibility and accountability to the people.
He said journalism existed primarily to provide citizens with verified information upon which responsible decisions could be made, stressing that democracy could not thrive where falsehood, propaganda and misinformation dominated public discourse.
Ogundipe also challenged the popular description of the media as the “Fourth Estate”, arguing that the Constitution recognises only the legislature, executive and judiciary as arms of government. He said journalism should instead be understood as a constitutional conscience responsible for scrutinising power and holding government accountable.
In his speech, chairman of NUJ, Oyo State Council, Mr Akeem Abas, urged journalists to uphold accuracy, verification, fairness and ethics in reporting the 2027 elections. He warned against misinformation, hate speech, propaganda and AI-generated falsehoods, stressing that “the speed of social media must never replace professional standards.”
In her opening remarks, the NUJ Tribune Chapel chairperson, Bunmi Ishola, said the engagement was a timely reminder of the enormous responsibility placed on the media as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 elections.
She said journalists were not merely observers of the electoral process but active participants in shaping public understanding through their reports, headlines, interviews, analyses and commentaries.
She urged journalists to remain committed to accuracy, fairness, balance, verification, independence and accountability, particularly in an information environment where misinformation, disinformation, fake news, hate speech and manipulated content could spread within seconds.
The chairman warned journalists against publishing information merely because it was trending or appeared favourable to a political interest, stressing that “our first responsibility must always be to the truth and to the public interest.”
She urged members of the Tribune Chapel to set the standard for responsible election reporting and ensure that their reports contributed to peace, informed citizenship and democratic accountability rather than tension and division.
