By Ozumi Abdul
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decried the level of fake news making the rounds in both the mainstream and social media as the country gears up for the general polls in February.
The complaint was made during a Public Lecture titled: “Voter Rights and Responsibilities in Nigeria’s 2023 General Election” organized by the Aminu Kano Centre For Democratic Studies, Bayero University Kano, in conjunction with International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) on Thursday in Kano.
Kano Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC, Ambassador Abdulsamad Abdu, ably represented by the commission’s Head of Department, Legal Services, Mallam Suleiman Alkali noted that the rumor that milled the media a few days ago that the electoral body might postpone the scheduled date for the general elections due to the heightening security situations in the country is uncalled for.
He reiterated the electoral umpire’s position that the election will hold as scheduled, adding that the commission is working round the clock to give the country hitch-free polls in the coming elections.
The REC rued that the politicians are ignoring their responsibilities of enlightening and educating voters to the civil society organizations, as he enjoined the media to join hands with other relevant stakeholders in the conduct of the forthcoming general elections.
“I think the media is doing a lot of harm to our very young democracy. A few days ago, the rumor of INEC wanting to postpone the elections was everywhere in the media, then I begin to wonder where all these rumors are coming from.
“The politicians are shying away from their responsibilities, leaving it to civil society organizations, in terms of educating and enlightening the electorates before, during, and after elections.
“Electorates have the right to question anyone if his or her rights are denied in the polling booth during an election, or denied his voters’ card. All these are very important”, he said.
Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano, Professor Sagir Adam Abbas, who was also represented by the former Registrar of the school, Dr. Sani Aminu Ibrahim said the public lecture for the voters’ education is imperative and timely considering the fact that the general elections are less than 50 days away.
He added that the voters deserve to know their rights when they are bridged by neither politicians nor electoral officials.
“This voters’ education is very important, you know we are about to hold the next election to elect the leaders for the next four years. So it is important to know the kind of people they will vote for, if they know the right people to vote for, then we will be able to elect good leaders”, he submitted.
Earlier, the Director of Mambayya House, Professor Habu Mohammed who doubled as the Chairman of the occasion said it is important that Nigeria gets it right in these coming elections, assuring that if the country gets it right the entire African continent will get it right.
He challenged the INEC that they can’t afford to get it wrong in the forthcoming general elections despite the various challenges confronting it, the challenges he said are mostly from social media.
“The INEC must up their game and get it right in this coming election even though there are serious challenges, especially from the social media.
“High expectations are on the INEC to do well in this elections, and all hands must be on deck to achieve this objective of endearing the country to have hitch-free polls,” he said
