Ahead of the 19th December 2020 Gombe State Local Government election, the European Centre for Electoral Support has trained about 50 journalists in the state, to ensure accurate reporting.
The training is part of training conducted for various stakeholders in the state for a successful election; the journalists were reminded of their role in giving accurate and balanced information, as well as their knowledge of the media Code of election coverage.
They were also enlightened on the functions of the State Independent Electoral Commission in ensuring a successful election.
The training covered topics like election administration and management, the media and communication, identifying and managing electoral conflict and violence, coordination on actions strategies between stakeholders.
The Deputy Project coordinator of European Centre for Electoral Support, Mr. Manji Wilson urged the journalists to discharge their duties with the utmost professionalism.
He said democracy could only thrive when a sustainable model at the local government level was built, because local governments remained the closest arm of interface for citizens and elected officials.
Consequently, he said it was critical every stakeholder play his/her role in ensuring that citizens engage the electoral process, which would go a long way in promoting wilful and broad-based participation, laced with inclusivity, transparency and electoral integrity.
Mr. Wilson said the European Centre for Electoral Support was in the state to support the media with more information to discharge their duties effectively.
“This training will also explore how to share some supportive tools from experiences ECES has gathered in implementing several projects across Africa and also in Nigeria towards reinstating your capacities in effective administration and management of the elections,” Mr. Wilson said.
In the same vein, the Project Manager, International Press Centre, Lagos, Sanmi Folabi, also called on the media to be guided and guarded by their credibility, with conscious efforts at giving accurate stories, while allowing all parties in the society to have a voice in the election.
For the Executive Chairman, Gombe State Independent Electoral Commission, Mr. Saidu Shehu Awak, who thanked the European Centre for Electoral Support for selecting Gombe state to enlighten key stakeholders on electoral processes ahead of the December 19th local government elections in the state.
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