By Caleb Ijioma
Some critical stakeholders in Saturday’s Edo State Governorship Election have urged the media and technology platforms such as Meta, X, and Google etc to support fact-checkers to ensure the election integrity, as the Nigerian Fact-checkers Coalition (NFC) announced plans to combat AI-misinformation during the poll.
They gave the charge on Thursday, September 19, 2024 while speaking on the coalition-led X Space themed: Edo Decides – How voters, media, other stakeholders can fight against fake news.
READ: #EdoDecides2024: Voters go to poll today amid surge in misinformation
Guest speakers at the X Space include Samson Itodo, executive director of YIAGA Africa; Hamzat Lawal, chief executive of Connected Development (CODE), David Ajikobi, Nigeria Editor at Africa Check and Nathaniel Audu Gana, a Principal Information Officer from the Voter Education and Publicity Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The NFC is a coalition of fact-checking organisations in Nigeria working with media and civil society partners to combat information disorder in the country.
Recall that the NFC reopened its Election Situation Rooms in Abuja and Lagos to monitor the spread of mis/disinformation around the Edo State election.
The Edo State off-cycle governorship election holds on Saturday, September 21, 2024 with over 2.2 million voters expected to participate, according to INEC.
Gana, while speaking during the X space, noted that the electoral umpire is prepared to conduct the Edo election, having fulfilled 12 of its 13 schedules planned for the election.
He pointed out that there is distrust in the electoral system, and fake news purveyors exploit this by using sentiments to share misinformation and further delegitimize the electoral process.
According to him, “Election is a multi-stakeholder activity. As much as INEC has put in a lot to make sure that everything is on track, we hope that stakeholders will play their role so that we will have a peaceful and credible election on Saturday.”
Speaking, Itodo noted that the clash of political heavyweights, zoning and power sharing, and INEC’s competence, among other factors, are critical issues that will shape the forthcoming election.
He expressed concern that given the current economic hardship and security volatility, the 2024 Edo election is likely to record low voter turnout.
ALSO READ: 2024 Edo Election: ‘Fake news’ trends ahead of Saturday’s poll
Also reacting, Lawal emphasized that too much reliance shouldn’t be placed on INEC, adding that “interference by political parties and the failure of security officials to do their job can limit INEC’s function.”
On how stakeholders can help combat election-related misinformation, he said, “I think there’s one gap. In most cases where we have mis/disinformation, they target demography, age group, and region. Media houses need to work with tech companies or innovators to come up with tools that we can use to counter these narratives.”
In his remarks, Ajikobi revealed plans by the NFC to curb information disorder during the Edo election, saying the coalition has noticed a series of misinformation, and fact-checkers have been actively debunking such content.
He believed that false information spread widely due to the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the coalition is ready to combat it.
“As I speak to you, we are already seeing some false claims being spread around the elections. But what is very strategic for us is also that as elections come and go, we understand that AI is a big deal now. Everyone is talking about how AI is affecting things, and from Friday to Saturday, we will see a lot of AI-generated content, and we are also ready to combat it,” Ajikobi said.
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