By Precious Oluwole

Ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State, the International Press Center ( IPC) Lagos and Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), on Tuesday, trained Journalists across the state on tips for the election coverage.

The workshop is one of the activities being implemented by IPC, as the lead partner, and the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) under Component 4: Support to Media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGNII) project.

In her welcome address, Mrs Melody Akinjiyan who spoke on behalf of IPC, noted that elections are the bedrock of any democratic society, as they provide citizens with the opportunity to express their will, choose their leaders, and shape the future of their communities.

She said that credible elections require the active participation and collaboration of various stakeholders, including the media, civil society organizations, political parties, and electoral bodies.

She opined that during the training, participants would explore ways to improve access to electoral information for citizens and discuss the role of media in educating voters about their rights and responsibilities, ensuring the safety and protection of journalists during elections is paramount.

“As it is with IPC’s tradition, this workshop has been structured in a way that would enable us to profoundly answer the foregoing germane questions and fashion the way forward so that by the time election is held, we would be counted among those who made it credible”.

She appreciated the European Union for their support through the EU-SDGNII Project and also to the Ondo State chapters of the Nigeria Union of Journalists and the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists for their support and continuous partnership in making sure that the media is fair, accurate, ethical and professional in the coverage and reportage of elections being the key goal of Component 4b: Support to Media of EU-SDGNII.

She urged all participants to actively engage, share experiences, and foster collaboration. “Together, we can strengthen our democratic fabric and contribute to a better Ondo State”.

The Executive Director of Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Dr Akin Akingbolu IPC and Cemeso are in the state to facilitate interaction of journalists and other stakeholders towards the upcoming Governorship election in Ondo State. He described Governorship elections as a prominent feature on the Nigerian electoral calendar.

The objective of the gathering is for the media to achieve fair, accurate, ethical and inclusive coverage of the electoral process.

“The two organisations have been on the implementation field, working with stakeholders with a focus on achieving the result, our expectation is that the implementation will be deepened and the interactions here will contribute greatly to the actualization of the expected result”.

He encouraged the participants to consider the engagement as a serious matter, get the very best of it and return to the field to provide a good performance in the upcoming Ondo State Governorship election.

Also speaking, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Prince Leke Adegbite noted that the interface is coming at the right time, stressing that Ondo State journalists have been progressive and professional in election coverage.

He assured the organizers that the journalists would cooperate and ensure that the set goal is achieved.

The two-day media and stakeholders’ interface on credible Ondo Governorship election was held at Royal Birds Hotel, Akure.