14th December, 2022
By Sunday John
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on security agencies to offer protection for journalists on election duties.
Comrade Chris Isiguzo, National President of NUJ made the call on Wednesday in Lafia, at a one-day capacity-building training for journalists on Conflict-Sensitive Reporting and the 2023 General Elections.
The training was organised by NUJ in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to familiarise journalists with some of the innovations to ensure more credible elections in 2023.
The NUJ President who was represented by Dele Atunbi, National Treasurer, said the protection would enable journalists to go round to report elections and expose activities that pose threat to the electoral process.
Isiguzo also urged journalists to be professional while performing election duties to properly advance public interests, earn public trust and be watchdogs of society.
“The pursuit of truth and public good must be the cornerstone of journalism practice in Nigeria, this makes it obligatory for every journalist to maximally comply with ethical principles and professional standards,’’ he added.
The NUJ President also said the training was aimed at equipping journalists with requisite knowledge on what is expected of them during elections.
He charged participants to avail themselves of the training opportunity to ensure that a level playing field is provided for all political actors and ensure that people’s votes would count.
“This is the only way we as professionals can advance the course of peace and ensure a credible and peaceful transition in 2023,’’ Isiguzo added.
On his part, Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Registration and Information said the commission was determined towards conducting credible elections in 2023.
The Commissioner also tasked journalists to shun those pedalling misinformation about the innovations by INEC to improve the quality of the electoral process.
Okoye, however, advised journalists to desist from ethnic and religious profiling and avoid lazy journalism of copying and pasting and sensationalism.
He said journalists should also be wary of declaring results of elections ahead of the electoral body as only INEC had the power to declare results.