Chief Executive Officer of Food Basket Foundation International (FBFI) Dr. Funmi Akinyele has said all hands must be on deck to facilitate free, fair, and credible 2023 general elections.
Addressing a press conference in Ibadan, Dr Akinyele disclosed that the integrity of the general elections would determine the future of Nigeria as an indivisible country and promised that the foundation would train and deploy 108 fact checkers online during the elections to to curb voter misinformation/ disinformation.
This she said would enhance free, fair, and credible 2023 general elections.
According to Dr Akinyele, there was the need to curb the menace of misinformation and disinformation prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, adding that the media briefing was part of the humanitarian efforts by the foundation to safeguard the digital civic space for electoral integrity, before, during and after the 2023 general elections.
She stressed that in order to ensure transparency in the elections, the group has decided to train and deploy the 108 across the 36 states of the federation, she said the integrity of the 2023 general elections will determine the future of Nigeria as an indivisible country.
“Without a doubt, the integrity of the 2023 general elections will be significant in determining the future of Nigeria as an indivisible nation. All hands must be on deck to facilitate free, fair, and credible elections. Millions of Nigerians, particularly eligible voters, get their information online”, she said.
The FBFI CEO added, ” therefore, the digital civic space is expected to play a significant role in the decisions that a myriad of Nigerians will take during the presidential elections coming up in February 2023 and the gubernatorial elections in March 2023″.
Dr Akinyele stressed, “108 fact checkers will be deployed online during the elections, the presidential and gubernatorial elections to curb misinformation”, adding” in the spirit of transparency, 108 fact checkers will be trained. 3 people in each of the states”.
“The people that will ensure that things are done correctly are people between 18 and 50 years. Everything will be done online. We are very much interested in journalists” .
