Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that it has introduced new innovations aimed at deepening the use of technology in the electoral process as well as guaranteeing added transparency in the electoral process.
The disclosure was made by Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC at the Sensitisation Forum for officials of the Print and Electronic Media in Edo State in preparation for the Saturday, September 19th, 2020, governorship poll in the state.
Barrister Okoye said that “the media is an important and indispensable component of the democratic process and we will continue our robust partnership with members of the fourth estate of the realm as we seek to consolidate Nigerian democracy.”
He disclosed that the programme “is part of a series of measures put in place by the commission to engage all the critical stakeholders in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State.”
Going forward, he said: “the commission is aware that it can only communicate effectively when the media understands and keys into its processes and procedures at this difficult period.”
In his comment, Comrade Titus Akhigbe, the Secretary of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), who stood in for the chairman, Sir Roland Osakue, said that journalists in the state have been told to play their role appropriately without sentiments, warning that any of its members that crosses the line would be disciplined in accordance with the ethics of the profession.
