FactCheck Africa has trained journalists, civil society organisations, youth leaders and digital content creators in Osun State on identifying and verifying deepfakes, fake news and harmful content ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
The training was held in Osogbo, the state capital, as part of the Osun 2026 Information Integrity Workshop, titled “Preparing Osun Citizens and Information Stakeholders Ahead of the 2026 Governorship Election.”
The workshop brought together selected information managers from private and public media organisations, including editors, media entrepreneurs, bloggers and digital content creators.
The participants are expected to apply the skills gained through their various platforms and serve as a digital coordination hub for addressing fake and harmful digital content before, during and after the election.
Speaking during his presentation on “Understanding Election Misinformation and its impact”, an information and communication expert, Dr. Rasheed Adebiyi called on journalists to always verify information before sharing it with the public.
Dr Adebiyi noted that credible information sustains democracy, and the media cannot be passive in disseminating timely and credible information.
He called on journalists to always uphold the ethics and principles of journalism in the discharge of their duties and to avoid being caught up in the political economy that is affecting the profession.
Dr Adebiyi said that, as the upholder of public trust and the Fourth Estate of the Realm, journalists have “a responsibility to impartially report the truth at all times and must verify information from news sources while subjecting the available information to scrutiny before publishing.”
Speaking on “Fact-Checking Fundamentals and Verification Techniques,” a staff member of FactCheck Africa, Mustapha Lawal, noted that fact-checking involves verifying the credibility and accuracy of information.
Lawal tasked journalists to always determine the truthfulness of every claim is true and determine if there are verifiable evidence to support the claim with verification tools and techniques.
He maintained that journalists must protect the integrity of the media landscape by avoiding bias and verify information before publishing.
The Founder and Data Scientist, at ChatVE, Israel Olatunji Tijani who spoke on “AI, Deepfakes, and Synthetic Media: Emerging Election Threat”, highlighted the importance of leveraging AI tools to fact-check information.
Mr Tijani laid emphasis on why varying forms of information often dished out by different political parties and individuals with different agendas deserve verification.
He highlighted the increasing role of artificial intelligence in fighting misinformation.
Mr Tijani called on journalist to embrace AI-powered tools to detect manipulated images, videos, deepfakes, and other forms of AI-generated messages and content usually circulated during election campaigns.
Lukman Adeoti, another staff member of FactCheck Africa, urged journalists to avoid the temptation to always rush to break the news.
Adeoti urged journalists to always pause, reflect, and verify information from sources of news before publishing stories on election-related activities.
Addressing the participants, The founder of FactCheck Africa, Mr. Olasupo Abideen tasked on journalists and other media practitioners on avoiding subjectivity in their reportage, saying “journalists have a responsibility to embrace fairness, objectivity, and truth at all times, especially during election period.”
He called for a stronger collaboration between the organisation and the journalists, saying FactCheck Africa is ready to support journalists with resources and training to help improve the quality of their work.
