Ahead of Nigeria’s General Elections, the Food Basket Foundation International, FBFI, has activated moves to safeguard the country’s digital space and curb the festering menace of fake news.
This was revealed at a press conference on ‘Safeguarding Digital Civic Space for Electoral Integrity’ held in Ibadan on Friday.
“Without a doubt, the integrity of the 2023 general elections will be significant in determining the future of Nigeria as an indivisible nation. All hands must be on deck to facilitate free, fair, and credible elections. Millions of Nigerians, particularly eligible voters, get their information online.”
“Therefore, the digital civic space is expected to play a significant role in the decisions that a myriad of Nigerians will take during the presidential elections coming up in February 2023 and the gubernatorial elections in March 2023.”
“The online civic space in Nigeria is gradually taking shape, as the spread of digital platforms becomes apparent and knowledge of their use for civic activities grows. Opportunities provided by the internet continue to promote implementation among numerous civil society organizations in Nigeria, which use it to organize and engage citizens. Digital technologies have become essential for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to collaborate, create awareness, and mobilize their communities,” the organization’s Chief Executive Officer, Funmi Akinyele, said.
Speaking further, she announced that a total of 108 persons would be trained as fact-checkers and would be deployed to all the states of the federation to combat fake news. She added that three persons would be selected from each of the 36 states in the country.
“In the spirit of transparency, 108 fact checkers will be trained, three people in each of the states. The people that will ensure that things are done correctly. People between 18 and 50 years. Everything will be done online. We are very much interested in journalists.
“The digital civic space is expected to play a significant role in the decisions that a myriad of Nigerians will take during the presidential elections coming up in February 2023 and the gubernatorial elections in March 2023,” she added
