Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on security agencies to protect journalists on election duties.

Chris Isiguzo, national president of NUJ, made the call at a one-day capacity-building training for journalists on conflict-sensitive reporting and the 2023 general election on Wednesday in Lafia.

NUJ organised the training in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to familiarise journalists with some innovations to ensure more credible elections in 2023.

The NUJ president, who Dele Atunbi, national treasurer, represented, said the protection would enable journalists to go around to report elections and expose activities that pose a threat to the electoral process.

Mr Isiguzo also urged journalists to be professional while performing election duties to advance public interests properly, 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 comply with ethical principles and professional standards maximally,’’ he added.

The NUJ president also said the training was to equip journalists with requisite knowledge on what is expected of them during the election.

Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner in charge of voter registration and information, said the commission was determined to conduct 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.

Mr Okoye 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 the results of elections ahead of the electoral body as only INEC had the power to declare results.

On the functionality of the electronic device to be deployed for elections, Mr Okoye explained that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) works both online and offline to transmit results and accreditation of voters.

He added that the attack on the commission’s facilities was a distraction that would not deter them from conducting the 2023 general election.

On his part, Othman Ajidagba, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Nasarawa State, lauded NUJ for the partnership, describing the training as apt.

(NAN)