- Charges parties, candidates to desist from electoral disinformation, weaponisation of fake news
- Tasks INEC, NPC to institute a fact check hub
As countdown to the 2023 Nigerian general elections intensifies, frontline pro-democracy think-tank, the Centre for Democracy Wednesday called on political actors to ensure issue-based campaigns.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had fixed September 28 for the formal commencement of the presidential and National Assembly campaigns as Nigeria heads to the poll in February next year with an estimated 95 million registered voters deciding 1,491 election contests.
CDD said it remained sacrosanct for governance issues affecting citizens to be at the forefront of the political debate.
The nonprofit organisation urged political parties, candidates and their supporters to focus on the issues affecting the country’s governance and development. Issues, according to CDD include challenges in the security and economic sectors, and its resulting impact in other areas of governance, such as education, health, power and agriculture among others.
CDD insisted that debates that prioritise religious and ethnic division only serve to distract citizens from making informed decisions while voting.
CDD had recently released a report titled ‘Nigeria’s presidential polls: A SWOT analysis‘, which highlighted several key areas that could make or mar the conduct of the elections. In line with some of the findings outlined in the analysis, the CDD therefore charges political actors to desist from promoting political violence which is inimical to Nigeria’s development. Politicians must consider Nigeria first, far and above their personal aspirations.
The group noted that the current nature of campaigning is cause for concern, adding that prevailing situation has shown the the proliferation of electoral disinformation, misinformation and the weaponization of fake news.
“This rising trend poses the biggest threat to the peaceful pre- and post-election conduct of the elections. This is because fake news and disinformation has the potential to further fragment the country and skew the electoral outcome. This could play a part in affecting the legitimacy of the elections and the leaders who emerge from the process,” CDD said.
In recent years, CDD had increasingly raised concerns on the potentially disruptive influence of disinformation on elections. The Centre had noted the common forms of disinformation in elections to include the dissemination of false information to discredit political opponents or to influence voters and the voting process. These in addition to the falsification and/or manipulation of contents, polling data, delegitimization of electoral institutions, including INEC, the Nigeria Police and other state agencies.
CDD stresses that the spread and impact of disinformation is a global concern and a threat to the sustainability of democracy globally.
“This is why we urge stakeholders to come to terms with the fact that disinformation may have a significant impact on the outcome of an election.
“However, we are optimistic that the participation of all 18 registered political parties in the signing of the National Peace Accord, which includes aiming to desist from peddling fake news and disinformation, shows a commitment by politicians to commit to addressing this issue. It is why we believe it is important the Nigeria Peace Committee and INEC should institute a fact check hub to monitor the peddling of fake news by political parties, its candidates, and supporters before, during and after the general elections and sanction defaulters of the Peace Accord appropriately.
“Finally, we urge all voters, social media, citizens journalists, and mainstream media executives to always fact check information before sharing. We all share the responsibility of curbing fake news, to ensure that we can all reap the dividends of our continued democracy,” CDD said.
