In a recent media monitoring activity conducted by the International Press Centre (IPC), it revealed that the Nigerian electoral processes have elicited both negative and positive perceptions from citizens.
The findings come as the country seeks to regain public trust in the wake of the challenges faced during the 2023 general election.
Executive Director, International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade,who disclosed this during a one-day media/csos roundtable on ‘re-examining the role of critical stakeholders in rebuilding trust in the electoral processes & institutions’ in Abuja, said IPC’s monitoring activity encompassed 20 print and online media outlets, as well as the social media channels of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), over the past year.
According to him the monitoring aimed at gauging the public sentiment surrounding the electoral processes and outcomes. Additionally, the findings shed light on the varying opinions held by Nigerians, with some expressing dissatisfaction while others hold that things were not as dire as portrayed.
Arogundade said, “The 2023 general elections came with unexpected challenges although it accomplished significant milestones particularly in the use of technology for voting via BVAS. The challenges led to extensive observations both from national and international observers which partly reflected waning public confidence and trust in the electoral process. Along this line the European Union, Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) report on the elections made 23 recommendations for improvement.’
Additionally, IPC’s media monitoring activity of 20 print/online media and INEC social media over the past one year has also revealed some elements of negative perception by some citizens about the electoral processes and outcomes while there are those who hold that things were not as bad as portrayed.
“In general however, the observations show that we election stakeholders still have much work to do individually and collectively to rebuild trust.
‘Therefore as we approach two off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States this year 2024 and in view of the next general elections in 2027, this activity is deemed necessary to aid the process of developing strategic interventions that can contribute towards regaining public trust while promoting the delivery of free, fair, peaceful and credible elections in the country.
“What are our major expectations from this roundtable and engagement? They include that:
“The Media and journalists shall do more to hold accountable the critical stakeholders in the electoral process who each must play the roles expected of them for the country to have credible elections. which serve as the basis of public trust. Among these are the government, the security and law enforcement agencies, the election management body – INEC, the political parties and the candidates, the civil society, the citizens, the observers and monitors, etc. The question of whether we have done enough to hold these important stakeholders accountable is one that we should honestly answer going forward.
“That the media and journalists shoud realise that they themselves are accountable and should be accountable to the society during the electoral processes and elections. In other words, being non accountable can also affect the credibility of elections. Based on the provisions of the laws governing elections and the statutory and non-statutory regulatory frameworks, the accountability functions of the media include being factually accurate, avoiding biases, prejudices and hate speech; being conflict sensitive and refraining from being part of information disorder in this age of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation.
“The media and journalists are also accountable based on the agenda setting and social responsibility theories of the media, among others. Again, we may ask the question: whose agenda have the media been setting during the elections? Can we say, it is the public interest agenda?
