By Vincess Okushi
SEEK MEDIA ENGAGEMENT IN DEEPENING DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY:
As part of an effort to monitor the 2023 election coverage across ten national dailies, the International Press Council (IPC) is organizing a one-day roundtable with stakeholders to review campaign promises made by President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement, by the IPC Executive Director Lanre Arogundade signed by its Communications Officer Component 4 (Support to Media) Olutoyin Ayoade,
Said the essence is to share ideas on frameworks and mechanisms for ensuring an accountable and democratic governance
According to him, the event slated to hold on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, will have 80 delegates averaging all sectors to highlight the role of the media in deepening democratic governance in Nigeria.
“The roundtable will feature a lead presentation by Dr Otive Igbuzor, founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) on “Beyond The Rhetoric Of Campaigns: The Role Of Citizens and The Media In Ensuring Democratic Accountability”, which will be followed by contributions by a lead discussant and a plenary discourse.
“The event, to be chaired by Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellow at Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and chairman of the editorial board of Premium Times and attended by Mr Tunde Rahman, Media Aide to the president, as a guest participant will additionally spotlight President Bola Tinubu’s campaign promises.
“IPC shall also launch its recently developed IOS and Media Election App through which hundreds of journalists and other media professionals, the academia, researchers, etc., would be able to download the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage and have easy access to the content. “The European Union-funded resource publication has been widely endorsed and over 20,000 copies have been distributed across the Country.”
Lanre added that “The gathering is also important because the fulfilment of campaign promises is at the core of democratic accountability
“The meeting is facilitated by the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria implementing partner with the Institute for Media and Society (IMS) within component 4 (Support to media) of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria-Phase II (EUSDGN II) project.
“The specific objective of the EU-funded media component is to ensure that, “The Media, including New and Social Media, provides fair, accurate, ethical and inclusive coverage of the Electoral Process”. IPC has been supporting the media for more than a decade for professionalism in the coverage of the democratic processes and elections as the event seeks to boost collaboration for a greater impact
