As electioneering campaigns kick off Wednesday, September 28, the National League of Veteran Journalists (NALVEJ) in Kwara State has urged politicians to canvass for issue-based campaigns ahead of the 2023 general election.
The league, in a statement by its chairman, Alhaji Tunde Akanbi, and publicity secretary, Alhaji Abdullahi Olesin, urged candidates of various political parties and other stakeholders to play the game according to its rules.
The group encouraged them not to overheat the polity through unguarded statements capable of threatening the country’s fragile peace.
NALVEJ advised the politicians to shun divisive tendencies in their campaigns but rather embrace issue-based campaigns. It also cautioned them against employing the youths for thuggery and disruptive activities during their campaign programmes.
The league, therefore, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure strict monitoring of the activities of the political parties and their candidates during this period and apply sanctions on anyone that run fouls of the provision of the Electoral Act and other extant rules guiding the conduct of the election.
NALVEJ also admonished media houses and journalists across the country to ensure fairness in the reportage and coverage of election activities.
He urged them to resist any attempt by the politicians to use them as instruments of destruction against opponents, adding that they should exhibit a high sense of patriotism in discharging their onerous duties.
S.O
