About 81 journalists from the print, electronic and online media in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states have been trained on fact-checking to ensure credibility of electoral information, as the states ready to hold off-cycle governorship elections on November 11, 2023.

The fact-checking workshops kick-started the iVerify project of International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos, and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Twenty-seven male and female journalists from Kogi participated in the first leg of the training in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on October 27 and 28, another 27 from Bayelsa attended the workshop in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while Imo’s 27 will be trained later in the week.

Focus of presentations at the workshops include ‘The Art of questioning in Journalism and Being Detectives of Misinformation’ by founder of Journalism Clinic, Mr. Taiwo Obe; ‘Fact-checking of Information to Promote Electoral Integrity’ by Nigerian Editor of Africa Check, David Ajikobi; ‘Combating Electoral Information Disorder or Fake News – the INEC Experience’ by Chief Press Secretary to Independent National Election (INEC) Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi and “The Dangers of Information Disorder or Fake News to Peace Building and Conflict Resolution’ by the Director of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Emmanuel Mamman.

Addressing the Kogi and Bayelsa participants, Team Lead, Governance, Peace and Security of UNDP Nigeria, Matthew Alao, said electoral disinformation and fake news in general were major threats to the ability of citizens to have the right information during electoral processes and elections, thereby constituting threats to democracy.

IPC Programme Manager, Mrs. Stella Nwofia, said the iVerify project was enabling IPC to continue with its mission of promoting good journalism through best practices in ensuring accuracy of news.

According to her, the objective of the training is to equip the journalists with the requisite skills and knowledge to enhance the integrity of information on the electoral processes in the respective states, especially the campaigns, the conduct of INEC, and post-election democratic accountability and governance issues.
Organisations collaborating with IPC on the iVerify project include the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) and Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ).