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Against the backdrop of the governorship elections slated for June 21 and August 9, in Ekiti and Osun states respectively, the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr Emeka Mba, on Monday, warned media practitioners against announcing election results of polling units through their reports.
He maintained that such practice was capable of triggering violence and crisis in the country, contending that “election is a process which should be allowed to run its full course and the authorised body, which is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), reserves the right to make final announcement at the end of the exercise.”
Mba, who made this disclosure at a workshop organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in conjunction with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), in Akure, the Ondo State capital, also affirmed that “stiffer penalties await any of the broadcast media which indulges in such unwholesome act.”
The NBC boss, who was represented by his zonal director in the South-West, Mrs Benedicta Otonoku, emphasised that “announcing the results of winning candidates before the conclusion of electoral process by broadcast stations is illegal.”
“This would attract stiffer sanctions, minimum of which is the reduction of broadcast hour and outright withdrawal of broadcast license of such stations. Political broadcast must not be in abusive language. “Broadcast medium is a public property, which must not be misused to destroy the character of individuals,” Mba asserted.
At the workshop, entitled “Media groups on conflict sensitive reporting during elections,” the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Osun State, Ambassador R. O. Akeju, advised media practitioners to struggle and ensure accurate reportage of political activities.
Also represented by Mr Faith Okoli, Akeju posited that INEC was at the centre of action, receiving commendations and knocks for its activities, stressing that there was the need for all stakeholders to play their roles diligently well in enhancing the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
