The growing call by some political actors for media organisations to engage in the announcement of winners of elections has been described by ….as an invitation to anarchy.
Speakers at a forum in Abuja which included media executives and representatives of civil society organisations(CSOs) said it was in order for media houses and others to participate in collating election results but not assume the role of announcing winners.
The forum tagged: ‘Dialogue session with media executives on the compliance with the national peace accord’ was organised by the National Peace Committee (NPC) with support from the European Union (EU) the International Press Centre (IPC) the Kukah Centre among others.
Executive Director of the IPC Lanre Arogundade argued that it was wrong to ask media organisations to declare winners of elections because of the divergence in media allegiance in the country.
Arogundade who warned about the confusion such practice could cause said: ‘If we do that we will have Kenya 2007 in our hands.’
Speaking on the topic ‘The media as a partner for electoral peace and accountability’ the IPC boss pointed out that the media have the capacity to contribute to efforts aimed at promoting national unity peace and cohesion and mitigate violence during the 2027 elections.
He however noted the media would do better in this regard if the whole society assumes the responsibility of creating a peaceful atmosphere during election season.
Arogundade added: ‘Crucially too the media needs the support of the rest of the society to get it right during the elections adding that it has now become the responsibility of all to defend journalists’ rights to adequate protection welfare and resources while they perform their responsibilities.
Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) Akin Akingbulu argued that contrary to what people might be saying ‘my take would be that because elections are counted and documented in the appropriate electoral forms the appropriate institutions get copies of these results.
‘Copies are also pasted at polling units. Polling officers agents of parties and other relevant officials get copies. So the results are already in the public space. So anybody can tally such results.
‘In my opinion it is constitutionally right for people to collate results especially if they were present in those polling units’ he said.
Akingbulu added that any political party that participates in any election but does not collate results cannot be regarded as a political party.
He said: ‘What I did not support which is not lawful is the declaration of results because the Electoral Act 2026 gives that function to the election management body that is INEC.
”My expectation is that yes whether it is civil society whether it is the observers or other groups as they get the results why not? You can collate.’
He however stressed the need for the people to be vigilant and ensure they were up and doing with the months left before the next set of elections in the country.
A former National President of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Wahab Odusile noted the key role of the media in sustaining societal peace and advocated that media owners and journalists should be made to commit to promoting peace during elections.
‘The media too should be held accountable for the need to promote peace. We are called Nigerian journalists because we have a country called Nigeria.
‘We should be committed to peace. We should not use our pen to bring the country out of existence’ he said.
Executive Director of the Kukah Centre who is also a member of the NPC Attah Barkindo said the event was intended to ensure the involvement of the media in his organisation’s efforts to promote peace during and after electioneering in the country.
Barkindo argued that the duty of creating a peaceful atmosphere during electioneering activities in the country is not solely that of his group but a collective responsibility of everyone including the political players themselves and the media.
He blamed relevant state agencies for failing in their responsibility to prosecute politicians who violated peace accords after signing.
He said: ‘The peace accord has been annotated to link it with the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act but people still violate it.
‘In the past we have collated data of people who have violated the peace accord. We have information and data on violations of the Electoral Act; on violations of the Constitution in relation to elections.
‘We handed this data and information to INEC and the police who are paid with taxpayers’ money; they don’t do anything. But people keep coming for the Peace Committee.’