The Institute for Media and Society, IMS, the International Press Centre, IPC and the National Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ have called on the broadcast media in Ondo State to be professional in the coverage of the upcoming poll in the state.
The trio made the appeal during an appearance at the current affairs programme, Dynamic Diet, on NTA in Akure the state capital on Saturday, October 10, 2020.
The programme was to sensitize the media and voting public ahead of the election poll
Dr Akin Akingbulu, the Executive Director of IMS, in his remarks, disclosed that the Support to Media Component of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria, EU-SDGN, was being implemented by IMS and IPC.
He said his organisation discovered some critical gaps in media professional after a research conducted by a team led by Professor Ayobami Ojebode, which are published in a book: Media Readiness and Engagement of Electoral Issues towards the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria. The findings by the team led to the collaboration between IMS and IPC in conducting some activities designed to strengthen the media for fair, accurate and ethical coverage of the electoral process in Nigeria.
He said IMS works with the broadcast media and hinted that there are other implementing partners in the EU-SDGN project dealing with such activities as: Support to the National Assembly, NASS, INEC, Political Parties, Security Agencies, Women, Youths and People with Disabilities, PWDs., etc.
“Part of our work is also to strengthen the regulator, which is NBC, ensure women, youths and PWDs participation in the electoral process”, he pointed out.
Mr Sanmi Falobi, who represented the Director of IPC Lanre Arogundade, stated that the organization had been working with the print and online media to enhance their professionalism in the area of election coverage, adding that in the process, the journalist is trained to hold the government accountable and sustain democratic governance.
NAWOJ chairperson in Ondo State, Doris Olumoko, on her part, said women journalists have been sensitizing women on their involvement in the electoral process both as contestants and as voters.
“We do not just want women to vote, we want adequate women representation in politics. The participation of women in the elections has been very… very poor. Here in Ondo State, we have just one female legislator in the House of Assembly, which is very poor”, she stated.
Meanwhile, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has hailed the broadcast media in Nigeria for the professional and ethical broadcast, which no doubt, contributed to ensuring free, fair, and peaceful elections in Edo State.
NBC’s Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Ekanem Antia, in a statement, “enjoined broadcasting stations in Ondo State to borrow a leaf from their colleagues in Edo State, by using the Nigeria Broadcasting Code as a guide to ensure ethical coverage of the election.”
The statement said as part of its mandate, NBC “monitored for compliance, the conduct and content of broadcasting stations before, during and after the just-concluded Edo State Elections in line with the NBC ACT, CAP11, Laws of the Federation 2004.”
