Chinwe Odita, Political Editor
The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) has called for greater trust, transparency and shared responsibility among electoral institutions, political actors, the media and citizens as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 general elections.
The call was made on Thursday at the Guild’s 10th Annual Conference held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, with the theme, “2027 Elections: Trust, Transparency and Shared Responsibilities.”
The conference, chaired by former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, brought together senior media executives, academics, security officials, civil society representatives and other stakeholders to examine the credibility of the electoral process and the role of the media in the 2027 elections.
The keynote address was delivered on behalf of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, by the Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Ayobami Salami.
In the keynote, Amupitan said electoral credibility could not be achieved by INEC alone, insisting that public confidence must be earned through transparent and consistent execution of every stage of the electoral process.
He declared that “trust is neither an administrative inheritance nor a rhetorical concession; it is a currency earned through consistent, verifiable, and transparent execution.”
According to him, neither a well-drafted electoral law nor sophisticated technology could, by itself, guarantee credible elections without faithful implementation.
“The true test of trust lies in how faithfully administrative custodians execute the statutory provisions, deploy technology, enforce internal discipline, manage logistics, and communicate outcomes to the electorates,” he said.
Amupitan also disclosed that Nigeria’s national register of voters had reached 103 million registered citizens, following the conclusion of the latest Continuous Voter Registration exercises.
He announced that nationwide collection of the newly produced Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would commence on Friday, October 9, 2026, and appealed to online publishers to use their platforms to educate and mobilise Nigerians to collect their cards.
The INEC chairman said the commission had also upgraded its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), strengthened result-transmission infrastructure and introduced measures aimed at improving the visibility and integrity of polling-unit results.
He further revealed that INEC was proposing a three-point operational pact with GOCOP ahead of the 2027 elections.
The pact includes dedicated digital fact-verification support for journalists, stronger editorial self-regulation by publishers and a partnership on voter education and PVC collection.
Amupitan also made a strong appeal for responsible digital journalism, warning publishers against sacrificing accuracy for speed.
“Being first with a false story is a costly failure; being accurate with a verified fact is a public service,” he said.
He warned that unverified allegations of electoral fraud could cause lasting damage to public confidence, noting that subsequent corrections or fact-checks often failed to fully repair the damage caused by false reports.
He therefore urged online publishers to resist clickbait journalism and ensure that claims relating to elections, polling-unit results and security incidents were properly verified before publication.
In his remarks as chairman of the conference, Olisa Agbakoba urged Nigerians and other stakeholders to reverse the conversation and focus more on finding ways to help INEC deliver credible elections that will produce the choice of the people”.
“We want INEC to succeed,” Agbakoba said, stressing that Nigerians were looking forward to elections that would be credible, transparent and free and would produce the choice of the people.
The legal practitioner also raised a debate over the role of the media in projecting election results, questioning whether the law completely prevents media organisations and citizens from making independent projections based on information gathered from polling units.
Agbakoba maintained that the media could not be gagged and that the issue should ultimately be subjected to legal interpretation.
He urged the conference to consider the matter as a question for further debate and possible judicial determination.
The former NBA president also challenged Nigerians to take their civic responsibilities seriously, particularly the responsibility to vote.
Insisting that Nigerians should see themselves as Shareholders in the country, he said, “Every Nigerian should regard himself as a shareholder. That is the only way for us to work together to ensure a peaceful, free and fair, credible elections in 2027”.
“You have a right to vote,” he told Nigerians who might otherwise choose to stay away from the polls and complain about the outcome afterwards.
Earlier, the President of GOCOP, Mr Danlami Nmodu, mni, described the 10th edition of the conference as a milestone for the Guild and said its theme represented GOCOP’s contribution to strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
Nmodu said responsibility for credible elections “does not belong to one institution or one group alone.”
He said the approach to the 2027 elections must be anchored on trust in institutions, transparency in the electoral process and a clear understanding of the responsibilities of every stakeholder.
The GOCOP president urged political leaders to “always put the people first,” arguing that government policies must be designed to improve the welfare of Nigerians.
“Those in power and those seeking to replace them must realise that the people matter always,” he said.
Nmodu also charged journalists to maintain professional standards during the electoral season, saying their responsibility was to scrutinise both government and opposition.
He urged publishers to “report facts and be fair and balanced,” stressing that credible journalism remained essential to a healthy democratic process.
He further called on the government to intensify efforts to tackle insecurity, arguing that improved security would give Nigerians greater opportunities to work, invest and improve their lives.
The conference featured a high-level panel discussion moderated by Mr Kenneth Ugbechie.
The panel comprised Professor Tayo Popoola, Head of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos; Dr Abayomi Shogunle, Commissioner of Police, Election Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Force Headquarters, Abuja; Dr Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack, Creative Director, Gender Agenda and Founder, WEWE Network Afrique; and Mr Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director, International Press Centre.
The panellists brought perspectives from academia, election security, gender and civic advocacy, as well as media development, in line with GOCOP’s objective of examining the responsibilities of different actors in securing credible elections.
The quartet had earlier been announced by GOCOP as panellists for the conference.
The discussions focused broadly on the need for stronger public confidence in electoral institutions, responsible political communication, election security, inclusion, professional journalism and greater accountability among stakeholders as political activities intensify ahead of 2027.
One of the major outcomes of the conference was the proposed closer working relationship between INEC and online publishers.
Under the proposed arrangement, INEC is expected to provide GOCOP journalists with real-time channels for verifying reports concerning polling units, security incidents and technical challenges during the elections.
GOCOP, in turn, is expected to strengthen internal editorial controls and sanction member platforms that publish unverified results or inflammatory speculation.
The Guild is also expected to support INEC’s voter-education campaign, particularly the nationwide PVC collection exercise.
Amupitan said the 2027 election would require a collective commitment to democratic values, declaring that INEC has no preferred candidate or political party and that its allegiance is to the Constitution, the law and the Nigerian people.
The conference also paid tribute to the late former GOCOP president and publisher of The Eagle Online, Mr Dotun Oladipo, whose contribution to the development of online publishing was acknowledged by both GOCOP and INEC.
With the 2027 elections drawing closer, the GOCOP conference provided a significant platform for stakeholders to confront the central question of how to rebuild public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
For the media in Nigeria, the message emerging from the conference was equally clear: the credibility of the 2027 elections will depend not only on how votes are cast and counted, but also on how information about the process is gathered, verified and presented to the Nigerian public.
For a better society
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