By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
Ahead of 2027 general elections, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa, (PAACA) has kick-started a nationwide enlightenment campaign to deepen the knowledge of journalists on the Electoral Act 2022.
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Organization, Mr. Ezenwa Nwagwu who disclosed this at a one day workshop for media practitioners, traditional and religious institutions on Electoral Act in Uyo yesterday decried the poor knowledge of the electoral law despite it’s circulation in public space.
Nwagwu lamented that most Nigerians remained ignorant of the legal framework of the Act, which created serious controversies during the 2023 general elections.
He lamented that, most Nigerians spread wrong information across board without having insight of the processes and guidelines surrounding the electoral Act adding that, PAACA partnered the media in this regard to depend the knowledge of election before 2027.
According to him, “the public should know that election is a law guided process. You can not do elections without understanding the legal framework, and the ignorance of the legal framework is the reason why we saw most of the outcry in 2023.
“There are issues, but the truth of the matter is that if people understood more, invested more in electoral education and knowledge perhaps most of the outcry may not have been necessary.”
The PAACA boss however , emphasized the importance of supporting the media to actualize the vision through training and partnership.
“The Media training became necessary as part of the lessons learned during 2023 elections and also the need to improve on the legal framework that currently exist.
“It is also an avenue to see if there are possibilities for electoral education and knowledge.
“We are working together with MacArthur Foundation, PLAC and WRAPA to spread the understanding of the need for inclusive elections; the need for knowledge and there is no better people to partner with than the media.
“If we territorialize relationship, we would not make impact, but it is the media that provides that voice and a strong voice for that matter to be able to sift things in the society especially, issues around good governance and elections”.
