The Independent National Electoral Commission has said the media will play a strategic role in the success of the November 8 Anambra State governorship election, through dissemination of factual information to the public.

The Deputy Director of Publicity, INEC, Wilfred Ifogah, said this on Wednesday during an interview in Awka.

Mr Ifogah noted that media practitioners are the mirror of society, as they reflect the collective conscience of members of the public.

He said, “The commission appreciates and values the services of the media in ensuring accurate and unbiased information to the public by enabling the people to have factual information on the commission’s electoral expectations. We do not want any smearing of the electoral integrity through fake news and misinformation, false stories, manipulated videos, and unverified claims that can create unnecessary tension and erode public trust.’’

The director of publicity said that the INEC team for the state governorship election scheduled for November 8 were already in the state for a week-long preparation to ensure a hitch-free election process.

He said that the commission had assembled media practitioners in the state for a partnership and a shared purpose of strengthening the nation’s democracy through credible information and responsible communication.

He said that INEC also engaged the media ahead of the governorship election to reiterate the commission’s level of readiness in practical terms for a flawless governorship election in the state.

Mr Ifogah urged the media executives, reporters, producers, and other on-air personalities to partner with INEC in giving quality voter education through their reportage to the public.

He emphasised that the commission’s media engagement forum was to expand the partnership to prevent misinformation and increase knowledge of voter education amongst the people.

According to him, the media as the watchdog of society needs to partner with INEC to rebuild public trust in the commission’s electoral processes.

He disclosed that non-sensitive materials for the proposed election had been delivered, adding that the sensitive materials would be delivered at the appropriate time under tight security to the state.

Mr Ifogah said that in line with the commission’s commitment to credible and inclusive elections, it had been implementing a comprehensive plan of activities covering logistics, technology, training, stakeholder engagement, and security coordination.

“The commission is in Anambra State for a week-long readiness assessment visit which will feature meetings with key stakeholders, including the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), transport unions, and a mock accreditation exercise that will be held on Saturday November 2. INEC is ready and fully committed to conducting a free, fair, and credible election in Anambra State. The permanent voter cards from the recently conducted Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Anambra State are ready for collection from Wednesday, October 22 to Sunday, October 26.

“Anambra State residents who registered in the last exercise are encouraged to visit their wards where they registered to collect their PVCs. There is no collection by proxy,” he said.

Mr Ifogah charged the media practitioners to partner INEC with continuous reportage for the registrants to visit their centres and pick up their PVCs to actively participate in the election.

He also urged the media to collaborate with INEC to stop the spread of any harmful content that might pose a threat to the upcoming election in the state and smear the integrity of the electoral umpire.

The INEC deputy director enjoined residents to come out en masse to participate in the election, stating that accreditation and voting start by 8: 30a.m and to end by 2:30p.m or until the last person in queue voted. 

(NAN)