CEMESO’s two-day event in Abuja on June 26 and 27 will focus on “Dealing with Contemporary Salient Issues in the Electoral Process” with the aim of delving into contentious issues arising from the recent elections and enumerating the tactics and strategies of addressing them.
In this regard, the event will feature expert presentation by Professor Samuel G. Egwu on contemporary electoral issues while Mr. Nicholas Bise Dazang shall moderate the sessions to ensure productive interaction.
The forum will have in attendance about 40 journalists from various broadcast media outlets and representatives from the inclusion community who shall explore strategies for enhancing civic and voter education through responsible media coverage.
In a statement, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of IPC said: “The thrust of our message is that all the key stakeholders in the electoral processes and elections must take their roles seriously, openly commit to improving on the performance of the roles and be ready to be held accountable for the commitments by the media in particular and the civil society in general”. “We are emphasising trust because without it there cannot be mass and informed participation, which in turn would serve as catalysts of credible and acceptable elections”, he added.
Dr. Akin Akingbulu, the Executive Director of CEMESO also said: “Without meticulouslyy identifying and examining the salient issues in the electoral processes particularly in the aftermath of the last general elections, it might be difficult to decide on the best approaches for tackling the contentious ones, so we consider the planned engagement as an important step towards developing appropriate civic and voter education messages to improve future elections”.
The endeavours by IPC and CEMESO as supported by the European Union, underscore a collective commitment to advancing democratic governance and fostering transparent electoral practices in Nigeria.