Stakeholders in Nigeria’s electoral process have been told to avoid Inconclusive election, interference with electoral process and late arrival of materials in order to attain free, fair and credible polls in 2019 general elections.
Also to be avoided, are hate speeches while the electoral body should remain neutral and media practitioners be objective in their reportage.
These are part of the Communique issued at the end of a workshop on Conflict Sensitive Reporting organised for journalists by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in collaboration with Kaduna State Peace Commission, which was held in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.
In the Communique, participants also enjoined all Stakeholders to abide by the ethics of their profession and obey electoral laws.
They identified hate speech during Campaigns, fake news, presence of thugs to disrupt Campaigns, destruction of opponents Campaign materials, Unilateral change of electoral dates and delays in announcing results as well as vote buying as some of the early warning signals.
On the part of the media, the Communique tasks the practitioners to exhibit self-censorship, ethic discretion in reportage, being objective, accurate and unbiased in Reporting .They should also exhibit responsible Journalism, down playing hate speeches, putting the society first and also create enlightenment in the society.
The Communique calls for continuous interface between journalists with INEC and security agencies before, during and after the election.
