Anambra guber: Fake news, misinformation biggest threat to election integrity—INEC

• REC hails Anambra journalists for maintaining professional standards

From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

As Anambra State prepares for the governorship election on November 8, 2025, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified purveyors of fake news and misinformation as twin evils posing the greatest threat to electoral integrity in Nigeria.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mr Sam Olumekun, made the remark on Tuesday in Awka during a forum organised by the commission for media executives, reporters, producers and on-air personalities in the state ahead of the election.

Represented by his deputy, Mr Wilfred Ifogah, the commission pleaded for the appropriate reportage of the election and urged media practitioners to be proactive to ensure that truth about the conduct of the governorship election ran faster than falsehood and misinformation.

He urged media practitioners to always verify every news item before reporting, noting that “False stories, manipulated videos, and unverified claims can create unnecessary tension and erode public trust.”

“As society’s mirror, the media reflects our collective conscience. In elections, your role becomes even more sacred. You are the interpreters of the electoral process, helping citizens understand not just how to vote, but why their participation matters. Democracy thrives when citizens are well-informed. To be well-informed, they must have access to accurate, timely, and balanced information. That is why the Commission continues to count on you to amplify voter education messages, combat misinformation, and keep the public engaged with truth and context,” he stated.

Olumekun gave the commission’s assurances and preparedness to conduct a free, fair and credible governorship election, adding that the exercise would be all-inclusive to guarantee that no eligible voter was disenfranchised.

“The Commission’s level of readiness is both practical and measurable. All non-sensitive materials have been delivered to the state, while sensitive materials will arrive in due course under strict security arrangements.”

The Anambra Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Queen Elizabeth Agwu, in her opening remarks said that the commission had enjoyed tremendous co-operation of the media in the state.

She said the media has been very fair in their reportage of its affairs in the state and gave the assurances that the commission under her watch in Anambra will stick to the principles of the law in all its activities and won’t succumb to any pressure from political interests of any sort.

Heads of legal and technological innovation of the commission in Anambra, Mrs Olachi Nwugo and Nnaji Chukwuemeka, as well as their electoral operations counterpart, Mr Ejikeme Ejimofor, in their separate lectures highlighted various provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended) that would be religiously applied in the conduct of the polls to ensure a credible outcome.

Mrs Nwugo, for instance, warned that “vote-buying and sales” are serious electoral offences punishable under the Electoral Act, and tasked security operatives to make sure that anyone who indulged in the act was arrested for prosecution by the commission.

The commission announced that a total of 2.8m registered voters have been captured in INEC register of voters for the Anambra governorship election.