Politics
‘Engage Media On Voters’ Mobilisation, Membership Drive’
The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru in Plateau, has advised political parties to embrace the use of media, especially social media for voters’ mobilisation and membership drive, ahead of 2023 general elections.
NIPSS Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Chukwuemeka Udaya gave the advice at a workshop on Enhancing Political Parties Visibility in Social and Mainstream Media on Wednesday in Abuja.
Udaya, represented by NIPSS Director of Research, Prof. Pam Dung Sha, described the media, both conventional and social as important instrument for parties in recruiting members and for sharing ideas of national and international importance.
He advised that ahead of 2023 elections, for political parties to cover more ground for mobilisation and engagement of electorate with less resources, they needed to use the media.
He said that only a few political parties were taking advantages of social media in spite of its enormous opportunities for election strategies and voters’ mobilisation in the country.
“It is a truism that the dynamic nature of information communication technology in the global space has brought about a paradigm shift in nearly every facet of human endeavour, and the political process is no exception to this development.
“The media has become a strategic choice of communication for political engagement globally, most especially during election campaigns.
“The role which social media played during the 2015 and 2019 General Elections in Nigeria was remarkable.
“Evidence from baseline studies by the political parties’ leadership and policy development centre of NIPSS in 2018 indicated that most political parties in Nigeria were not very effective in the use of social and mainstream media to enhance their visibility.
“This indeed deprived and are still depriving them of the great opportunity to recruit members as well as adequately engage with the electorates on critical issues of governance and national development.
He described the workshop as part of the ongoing activities by the NIPSS-PPLPDC under EU-SDGN to discuss and address the concern.
Udaya said that the workshop which was organised for national publicity secretaries and ICT/social media desk officers of political parties, was designed as part of efforts to strengthen political parties and the party system in the country.
“The workshop will equip participants with skills and knowledge on the development of content for a functional and interactive website; an effective and vibrant media management units as well as social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, among others.
“Overall, it will present an opportunity for national publicity secretaries and ICT/social media desk officers of political parties toenhance the visibility of their political parties in the mainstream and social media,” he said.
The National Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr Leonard Nzenwa, said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, media and security agencies played key roles on how elections were conducted in Nigeria.
He advised parties to be conscious of the fact that while the social media was easy to use and cost effective, it could also be misused especially for fake news.
Nzenwa said while both the social and mainstream media had their challenges, there was need for political parties to balance the usages and contents.
He advised parties to exploit the benefits of social media to sell their manifestos, mobilise voters’ support and things that would help them to win elections.
Nzenwa commended the organisers of the workshop, adding that it was a great opportunity that must be harnessed by political parties.
Senior Election Expert, with European Centre for Electoral Support, Dr Ishiaka Yahaya, said while speaking with newsmen that the workshop was to expose political parties officers to the benefits of using the social media to project their activities and programmes.
“The world is fast changing. We are moving away from traditional media to social media and the political parties which are trying to mobilise members cannot afford to neglect this innprojecting their activities and programmes.”
The Workshop was organised by Political Parties’ Leadership and Policy Development Centre, in collaboration with European Centre for Electoral Suppor, Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism and BBC Media Action.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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