Essential Ndubuisi
By Daniel Ezeigwe
Thirty-nine days to the much-anticipated Anambra governorship election, the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has challenged media houses in Anambra state to uphold decency and provide fair and equitable playing ground in their reportage of activities surrounding the poll.
The Anambra gubernatorial election is billed for November 6, 2021, and the NBC, Nigeria’s broadcast watchdog says it is expecting all media houses in the state to show professionalism and exclude bias in their political broadcasts, in line with statutory guidelines for political media coverages in Nigeria.
The one-day sensitization workshop, with the theme “Towards Achieving a Successful Election: The Need to Uphold Fair Play, Decency and Equity”, was attended by media executives and journalists from various media stations in Anambra State, including the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS, Dr Uche Nworah.
The workshop also provided blueprints for broadcasters in the forthcoming election, including the timeframe legally allowed for partizan reportage, and directives for reporting electoral issues that fall within or outside the cofines of the Nigeria Broadcast Code.
Welcoming the participants, the Director General of National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Mr Balarabe Ilelah, represented by the Director, Broadcast Monitoring, Mrs Franca Aiyetan, ueged broadcasters to ensure that their platforms are not used to disseminate falsehood, fake news, hate or preach violence and other anti-social messages, noting that the broadcast media needs to be responsible in their coverages of all affairs.
On the Anambra election, Mr Ilelah urged broadcasters to be conscious of the message they dish out to the public, noting that while broadcast channels could be allowed to politicians to sell their messages, but not to preach hate or instigate violence.
In his goodwill message, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C-Don Adinuba, said that broadcasters owe it to conscience and professionalism to report the truth and should not keep silent in the name of neutrality while desperate individuals chase their political goals at all costs.
Mr Adinuba who said that the Anambra governorship position is not a reward for violence, asked journalists to use their professional privileges to isolate violent actors.
In a presentation on “Achieving a Successful Election”, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Anambra State, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, said that a good election must be anchored on clear and established electoral frameworks, existence of independent election management body and knowledgeable electorate, and many other factors, stressing that a conducive environment must exist for elections to thrive.
In her presentation, NBC’s Director, Investigation and Enforcement called the attention of the broadcasters to relevant sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, especially the sections on political broadcast including voter sensitisation, fairness and balanced reportage.
