Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, has urged Nigerians to resist the temptation of posting or sharing unverified election results on social media.
The minister gave the admonition after casting his vote in
the presidential and national assembly elections, in Kwara on Saturday.
Speaking with journalists at his polling unit, Mohammed said
media organisations across the country must avoid fake news.
He also appealed to media houses to act responsibly in
publishing or broadcasting election results.
“You don’t have to post election results without checking
the source and the best way and most authentic is to hear from the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The media houses should abide by the National Broadcasting
Commission’s (NBS) regulations regarding the announcement of election results.
“What we have noticed in the past 20 years is that election
violence does not start during voting but it is at the point of collation or
announcement of results that violence starts.
“False news is a fuel
of this kind of violence because if you post false results from a particular
unit and it is at variance with the authentic result by INEC, that would lead
to violence.”
Mohammed enjoined eligible voters and party agents to wait
patiently until the presiding officer announced the results and they should
cross-check the same before transmission.
He said party agents should be vigilant and show a lot of
responsibility.
The minister also said the process was peaceful as there was
a massive turn-out of voters and he was satisfied.
“What struck me most
is the turn-out, the young, old, strong, the physically challenged men and
women, they all came out to cast their votes, ” the minister added.
“You can see the determination and resolve on their faces in an atmosphere of conviviality. I hope that it will be the same atmosphere and ambience in every other polling unit,” he said.
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