Experts have tasked the media to lead the fight against fake news by deploying the tools available to them, including professionalism, ethics and technology. They spoke at a workshop on ‘Misinformation, Politics and the Economy’ at the School of Media and Communication (SMC), Pan Atlantic University, Lagos.
Centre for Leadership in Journalism (CLEJ) of SMC organised the workshop in collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Speaking on ‘Brief on Preparations for the 2019 General Elections and the Role of the Media’, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) director of voter education, Oluwole Uzzi, affirmed the electoral body’s readiness to conduct credible polls.He said INEC had accomplished 12 of the 14 tasks it outlined as the roadmap to the elections slated for February 16.
According to Uzzi, the elections would feature 91 political parties and 84 million voters balloting in 1,568 constituencies.There are 8,809 registration areas or wards, 119, 973 polling units and 57,023 voting points, he added.
On the issue of immigrants, under-age voting and difficulties experienced by voters in getting their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), he disclosed that they were system problems that INEC alone could not resolve. Read more