Media practitioners in Kaduna State have been urged to be objective in their reportage as well as agenda setters in promoting peaceful coexistence not only in the State but the country at large.
The call is contained in a communique issued at the end of a Media Roundtable Ahead of 2023 General Elections for Media on Peace Journalism held in Kaduna by the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP) and with support from Interfaith Mediation Centre, (IMC)
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The 12- point communique also calls on the people to shun ethnic and religious inclination that polarize and instigate hate and disunity among the citizens.
“Participants want the National Electoral Commission INEC to ensure that they conduct, free, fair and credible elections which will be acceptable by all.
“INEC should also ensure the transmission of election results electronically in accordance with the 2022 amended electoral Act.
“Religious leaders should not use their sermons and congregation to preach disunity during, before and after the elections, so as not to cause division among fellow citizens in the State and Nigeria as a whole.
“Media practitioners in the country should sensitize and educate Nigerias not to see the 2023 general elections as a do or die affairs.
‘Media owners in Kaduna State and the country should support and equip their Reporters with modern equipments so as to enable them discharge their duty effectively during the coverage of the general elections.
“They observed that there is reduction of banditry, kidnapping and terrorism in the State and attributed this success with the ongoing continues efforts by the State relevant security structures and by the Nigerian Military, CMMRC, CPOs, CPAN, Media and other response team as well as urging the security to sustain the tempo.
“They called on eligible voters in Kaduna and in the country to desist selling their Voters cards to politicians because of hunger and poverty.
“Critical stakeholders in the State and the nation should continue to sensitize citizens, particularly youth against involvement in political thuggery before, during and after the general elections.
“They decried over the past experience of votes buying at the polling units and called on the relevant agencies to re-enforce their constitutional power to arrest any culprit politician that engaged in vote buying, so that to serve as deterrent to others.
The Communique was signed by:
IMC – The Rev. Micheal Ikpa
Kaduna Youth Peace Network- Eric John, Media- Ibrahoma Yakubu
Media- Hassana Muhammed
CMMRC – Bernard Musa Ghat
CPO- Muhammad Zakariyya.
