Media practitioners in the country have been urged to collaborate with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the ongoing efforts to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2023.
The Delta State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Rev. Monday Udoh Tom, made the call on Wednesday in Asaba while inaugurating the executive of the Commission’s Press Corps in the state.
Udoh Tom admitted that achieving the desired results in the forthcoming elections would be difficult without the support of the media, stressing that aggressive media campaigns were required to get Nigerians to truly understand and comply with what was expected of them to guarantee a seamless electoral process.
The REC said the first step towards participation in the elections was registration for the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) revealing that no fewer than 300, 000 of the Cards had remained uncollected by their owners across the 25 local government areas of the state since after the 2019 elections.
He explained that INEC was determined to improve on its performance in the previous elections in 2023, but regretted that the seeming aparthy of the people towards the electoral process was already manifesting in the number of uncollected PVCs, which would in turn take a toll on the number of persons who would vote in the elections, hence the PVC Collection Sensitization Programme.
Udoh Tom disclosed that there were 2.8 million registered voters in Delta state in 2019, but only 1.1 million voted in both the national and state elections, while 1.6 million others did not vote.
The Delta REC urged the newly inaugurated Press Corps to join hands with INEC to ensure that registrants collected their PVCs from the local government area offices of the Commission across the state, pointing out that collection was ongoing.
Particularly, he said the Press Corps should engage the political parties on the need to encourage their members and supporters to collect their PVCs.
He congratulated the new Delta State INEC Press Corps Executive on the unveiling of what he described as a important addition to the interface between the Commission and its gamut of stakeholders.
“It is significant to mention here that your induction at the state level will benefit the media, particularly in understanding the language and nuances of political reporting and by extension the activities of INEC, moreso now that the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) has devoted a significant portion to what is expected of the media in the political process, particularly sections 94 and 96 of the Act.
“On the part of the Commission, we here and now commit to respecting the desires of the media to access information on the activities of the Commission in an open and timely manner, without undermining the Commission’s rules and regulations, particularly as they relate to its Communication Policy”, Udoh Tom said.
Responding, the Chairman of the Press Corps, Olorogun Festus Ahon, of the Vanguard Newspaper, said the novel idea of officially getting the press more involved in the electoral process was commendable as it would add value to the system and the activities of INEC in Delta state.
Ahon assured the REC that the Press Corps would be professional in the discharge of its duties.
Other members of the executive are Oghenero Eghere, Secretary; Ifeoma Okafor, Treasurer and Austin Oyibode, Public Relations Officer.
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