By Abubakar Yunusa
Ahead of the Osun state gubernatorial election slated for Saturday, the Centre for Democracy and Development Election Analysis Centre (CDD-EAC) is hosting a fake news hub to track and counter fake news and misinformation about the election.
Its chairman, Professor Adele Jinadu who disclosed this while addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, said the issues of fake news can lead to incidents of violence and reduced voter turnout, depending on the impact.
He said “The CDD -EAC has deployed resources to track any instance of fake news so that prompt verification can be carried out as necessary.”
According to him, “An instance during Ekiti Governorship election was the report that a frontline candidate had withdrawn and endorse Another while CSOs and the CDD strove to correct it.”
While speaking on vote buying, he said the spate of vote buying has not reduced the call on INEC for stronger monitoring in Osun and general elections.
He said the Ekiti election was marred by vote buying and the occasional report of violence and it is important for INEC to build on the progress made in Ekiti and address any other Challenges with its operations.
While urging politicians to caution their supporters, he noted that the rising cases of cultism and street gangs in the State could be appropriated for electoral violence.
“With current Security realities, the Osun State governorship election will require an efficient deployment of security personnel”, he said.
He, however, called on all critical stakeholders in the election, from INEC to traditional leaders and relevant security agencies, to work together to ensure a credible and peaceful election in Osun state.
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