The president, Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr Femi Adeshina, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make itself accessible to journalists to avoid mis-presentation of facts and “whatever may be anti-tactical to transparency in the forthcoming elections.”
Adeshina, who made the call yesterday in Lagos during a presentation at a strategic meeting on media and the 2015 election organised by the UNDP- Democratic Governance for Development (DGD ll) Project, said if the media was expected to be impartial, the electoral umpires must be independent “indeed.”
He said INEC must enforce the provisions of the Electoral Acts impartially, by ensuring that “it applies to parties in the elections while using the media to mobilise and sensitise the masses toward the elections.”
Adeshina, however, charged the media to be accurate and objective in their reportage, saying that “lack of this fuel violence in the coming elections.”
He said: “We know the buildup and potentialities of violence in this country, so the media must be balance and objectives as it ought to be, because as it is now, elections will be fought along all the primordial lines, the peace of our country is at risk except all stakeholders do what is needful. 2007 may be a child’s play compare to what may happen in 2015.
“The role we play is very important because the build up to the election is not good but as journalist everything we need to do to help form a united nation is embedded in the ethics of our profession. It is important for the media to be very ethical now than ever before. Let there be objectivity for the sake of our nation, we must uphold fairness; the country is positioned for politics of hatred now. So, the media must ensure that decency is upheld.”
