By Zubairu Idris, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Careless journalism can deepen political tension, while responsible journalism can help protect peace and democratic participation.
That was the message to Kano journalists ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The media is a critical stakeholder in any election, and its reportage can shape public perception.
For this reason, it is regarded as the fourth estate of the realm.
Against this backdrop, stakeholders said journalists in populous states like Kano, where political interests are diverse, have a major role to play in keeping the electoral process peaceful.
Indeed, experience in Nigeria and abroad shows what is at stake.
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Umar Faruk-Ibrahim, said the task before the media in 2027 was enormous.
Faruk-Ibrahim spoke at the opening of the 2026 Retreat of the Kano Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), held recently in Kaduna.
The SSG was represented by the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Abba Yusuf, Mr Mustapha Muhammad.
“Kano is politically active, highly populated, and home to diverse political interests.
“Political competition is expected to generate strong emotions, competing narratives, and potential misinformation.
“In such an environment, careless journalism can deepen tension, while responsible journalism can help protect peace and democratic participation,” he said.
To illustrate the potential impact, he said every headline, photograph, video, social media post and broadcast could influence public perception and, sometimes, public behaviour.
He said election reporting should be guided by accuracy, fairness, impartiality, balance and the public interest.
“The media has a responsibility to avoid publishing materials capable of inflaming ethnic, religious, regional or political divisions.
“Journalists must be particularly careful when reporting allegations, campaign speeches, inflammatory statements and clashes between political supporters.
“Statements capable of provoking violence should not be amplified merely because they are sensational.
“The media should also avoid headlines that distort the substance of a story simply to attract attention,” he cautioned.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Chapel, Mr Murtala Adewale, said the retreat was organised to prepare members for the task ahead.
He said the theme, “2027 General Elections: Navigating Legal, Security and Ethical Challenges in the Media”, was chosen for that reason.
As part of the programme, security agencies briefed participants on national security issues as they relate to election coverage.
They pledged to work closely with the media to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
The warnings at the retreat are not abstract.
Nigeria’s own recent experience shows how much false information can circulate around an election.
The Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition fact-checked 127 claims around the February and March 2023 polls, with Twitter and Facebook the leading platforms for spreading them.
Similarly, a BBC investigation reported that politicians secretly paid social media influencers as much as N20 million, or promised them contracts and appointments, to spread disinformation about opponents.
Against this background, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) warned that such content could have consequences ranging from changed votes to post-election violence.
It also documented a rise in new online “news” websites pushing political and ethno-religious disinformation.
However, the evidence also calls for caution against overstating the effect.
CDD analysts noted that disinformation campaigns do not necessarily win elections, citing late President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 victory in spite of false claims against him.
Instead, they said the lasting damage was often to trust, while a 2025 survey found that 62 per cent of Nigerian youth said misinformation discouraged them from participating in politics.
The experience elsewhere in Africa further illustrates the potential consequences.
In Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found that RTLM radio broadcasts spread hatred and scorn, indirectly paving the way for genocide, and also contained direct incitement.
Even so, scholars still debate how directly the broadcasts caused the killings.
Likewise, in Kenya’s 2007-08 post-election violence, analysts said inflammatory statements and songs on vernacular radio, along with text messages and leaflets, contributed to the violence.
Early reports counted more than 600 dead and 250,000 displaced.
By contrast, mainstream media were praised for their even-handedness.
Radio broadcaster Joshua Arap Sang was later tried by the International Criminal Court over the violence and acquitted of all charges.
Beyond Africa, similar concerns have been raised about the role of digital platforms in conflict.
A UN investigation concluded in 2018 that Facebook played a “determining role” in spreading the hate speech behind the expulsion of Myanmar’s Rohingya.
Meanwhile, ahead of Myanmar’s 2020 elections, disinformation on the platform also targeted the ruling party and Muslim candidates.
More recently, artificial intelligence has added a new dimension to the challenge.
In Slovakia in 2023, deepfake audio targeted a frontrunning candidate just before election day.
Similarly, in the United States in 2024, a fake call imitating President Joe Biden urged New Hampshire Democrats not to vote in the primary.
Taken together, these examples show why election reporting now extends beyond traditional journalism practices.
Overall, International IDEA found that disinformation was an issue in at least 20 countries that held national elections or referendums in 2022 and 2023.
Against this wider backdrop, a legal practitioner, Mr Abdussalam Yusuf, presented a paper titled “Legal Boundaries and Ethical Obligations in Regulating Campaign Rhetoric for 2027 General Elections”.
He urged journalists to familiarise themselves with the laws governing elections and the limits placed on the media, noting that press freedom comes with corresponding responsibilities.
In particular, he said journalists must distinguish between legitimate public-interest reporting and publication that could violate the law, damage reputation or threaten public peace.
“The media has a constitutional responsibility to inform the public, but that responsibility must be exercised within the boundaries of the law and professional ethics,” he said.
Accordingly, he advised caution when reporting allegations, political claims and unverified information.
“A journalist must not become a tool for spreading unverified allegations. Accuracy, fairness, balance and verification are essential during election because a single report can have serious consequences,” he said.
Beyond verification, Yusuf said reporters must also separate facts from opinion and from claims made by political actors, especially in the age of social media.
“What a politician says at a rally is not automatically a fact simply because it was said in public. Always verify the claims and present only accurate information,” he said.
Furthermore, he cautioned against reporting hate speech and inflammatory issues capable of escalating tension or inciting violence.
“Responsible election reporting should contribute to peaceful democratic participation,” he said.
On the electoral process itself, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Kaduna State, Prof. Saidu Ahmed, who was represented by the Electoral Officer, Zaria Local Government, Mr Ahmad Musa, also spoke to the participants.
He said journalists could either contribute to nation-building or undermine national cohesion through irresponsible reporting.
According to him, the Electoral Act 2026, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, introduced significant changes that would affect the conduct and reporting of the 2027 elections.
Ahmed said journalists should understand the stages of the electoral process.
These, he explained, include party primaries, nomination of candidates, publication of candidates’ lists, campaigns, pre-election litigation, election-day activities and post-election petitions.
To minimise the risk of publishing unverified information, he advised journalists to rely on INEC’s verified channels.
He also cautioned them not to treat WhatsApp messages, Facebook posts, photographs or documents from individual INEC staff or party agents as official statements of the commission.
He further noted that inaccurate reports are hard to correct once the public accepts them.
In addition, the REC said reporters must obtain accreditation before covering electoral activities, and that accreditation may be refused where a journalist’s or media organisation’s identity cannot be professionally verified.
“Accreditation grants lawful access to polling units, collation centres and other designated facilities, and tags must be worn visibly throughout”.
At the same time, he cautioned journalists against entering voting cubicles, handling electoral materials or obstructing electoral officials.
Result sheets, he said, may be photographed only after they have been completed, signed and posted as required.
Turning to the issue of verification, Mr Abdulateef Abubakar-Jos, Editor-in-Chief of Solacebase Online Media, presented a paper titled “Misinformation in Electioneering and Digital Tools to Fact-Check Pictures, Videos and Information”.
He said speed matters in journalism but accuracy matters more.
“Modern election journalism requires verification, skepticism, context and responsibility,” he said.
To achieve this, he urged journalists to combine traditional methods with digital verification tools.
Google Lens and reverse image search, he said, can reveal earlier versions of a photograph, its source and the different captions attached to it.
Similarly, TinEye can show where an image has appeared before, can be used to analyse video key frames and trace a video’s origin.
In the same vein, he added that Google Maps can help confirm a location, especially where a video claims to show violence at a particular polling unit.
“In such cases, journalists can compare buildings, roads, shops, signboards and landmarks.
“Never assume a photograph is genuine because it looks real, a video is genuine because it is a video, or a social media account is genuine because it has a familiar name.
“Or that a result is official because a political party announced it, or authentic because many people shared it,” he said.
These concerns are also reflected in measures being taken nationally.
INEC has partnered with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on a nationwide voter-education campaign to counter false information and rebuild public confidence.
In addition, the commission has unveiled a digital communication strategy against misinformation and AI-generated disinformation ahead of 2027.
Likewise, at a media forum ahead of the Ekiti governorship election, INEC urged journalists to verify sensitive election information directly with it before publication.
At that forum, 64 media organisations had applied through the commission’s accreditation portal to deploy about 560 journalists, while the NUJ’s Ekiti chapter said it had introduced measures to curb fake news and improve accountability among online journalists.
For its part, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) said its monitoring of the campaigns would cover airtime allocation, balance, hate speech, misinformation and compliance with the campaign silence rule.
It also called on online publishers and bloggers to act responsibly.
In the same vein, fact-checkers such as the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition continue to debunk election claims.
Beyond fact-checking, the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria has called for an integrated information-integrity framework involving INEC, political parties, media organisations, technology platforms and civil society.
Finally, the discussants urged journalists to put their safety first during coverage, because no story is worth dying for.
They advised reporters to move in groups, study the area they are covering and avoid wearing anything that could link them to a political party.
Ultimately, they expressed hope that if journalists follow the legal provisions, professional ethics and advice shared at the retreat, Nigeria will have responsible media coverage that helps keep the peace beyond the 2027 general elections.
(NANFeatures)
