Ahead of the 2023 general elections, stakeholders have urged Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to work with the media in organising political debates for presidential and governorship candidates to hear their plans for workers.

They equally charged media practitioners to shun sensational reportage and set agenda for credible and peaceful 2023 polls.

Speaking at a workshop organised by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) for Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) in Lagos, Executive Director, International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade, reminded journalists of the need to avoid being biased in their reports and holding politicians accountable to their electioneering campaign promises.

He advised workers and labour unions against being used as cannon fodders by greedy politicians, warning that they must refrain from serving as foot soldiers of political parties or party thugs during the elections.

Arogundade said reporters could assist the media in getting it right by engaging in civic and voter education, emphasising importance of Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) collection and voting by workers.

He urged them to work closely with political desks to ensure that workers’ issues are not relegated to the background, as the entire process beckons.

Also, a former Labour Editor with Vanguard Media Limited, Funmi Komolafe, who delivered a lecture on “The role of the media in ensuring peaceful, credible, transparent and inclusive general elections in 2023,” stressed that journalists must report campaign activities without being carried away by activities of politicians.

She, however, noted that as the elections approach, reporters needed to ask in whose interest he or she is reporting?

“We must remember that we have a duty to ensure that the interest of our nation is our focus. We should desist from unnecessary sensationalism that promotes ethnicity and religious divide,” Komolafe added.