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The Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC) has opened its situation rooms ahead of the Ondo governorship election.
The election, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, has 17 candidates vying to be the next governor of Ondo state.
The NFC situation rooms will be open in Abuja and Lagos to host its members, who will monitor and fact-check misinformation and disinformation about the electoral process.
The NFC has debunked dozens of false information about Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, including Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi, and Edo off-cycle governorship elections. It leverages effective collaboration among researchers, fact-checkers, editors, data analysts, and social media specialists to curb the menace of fake news and support election integrity in the country.
The coalition’s model has been adopted in other countries, including Kenya, Senegal, Liberia, and South Africa, ahead of Ghana’s elections in December.
Speaking on the coalition’s efforts, the NFC Coordinator, Opeyemi Kehinde, said,
“We fully support any democratic process that respects the will of the people in the society. That is why we are working assiduously alongside our partners and relevant stakeholders to support information integrity in the Ondo 2024 gubernatorial election and to curb the menace of ‘fake news’ during the poll.”
He also noted that they have deployed a combined team of researchers, social media analysts, and fact-checkers to monitor information trends on TV, radio, and online platforms, including social media platforms, to quickly identify and debunk claims that are spreading online and offline.
He said the coalition would publish an analysis of its coverage and the pattern of disinformation it encountered after the election.
“Our team will also publish a comprehensive analysis of our coverage of the Edo and Ondo 2024 governorship elections immediately after the poll. The analysis is to detail misinformation patterns observed during the elections.
“Utilising fact-checking data, the report identifies prevalent misinformation themes, examines their distribution across major social media platforms, highlights the persistence of false and misleading claims post-verification, and reveals potential gaps in content moderation, especially during critical events such as elections, etc.”
“Based on these insights, this report offers targeted recommendations to enhance real-time monitoring, improve platform collaboration, and foster public resilience against misinformation,” Mr Kehinde, the Editor of the FactCheckHub, added.
Also commenting, DUBAWA Nigeria Editor, Kemi Busari, said,
“We continue to see the influence of false information on elections, and we are not resting on our oars. We’ll go all out to combat misinformation and disinformation that threatens our democracy.”
He encouraged the public to send any suspicious post, image, or video that they want to be verified regarding the Ondo Election to the coalition’s WhatsApp number: +234903 078 5265.
Similarly, the Nigeria Editor of Africa Check, David Ajikobi, said,
“This is our contribution to making sure the electorate and people in the state are equipped with accurate information to help them make informed decisions.”
About NFC
The NFC launched in June 2022, includes three International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) signatories–Africa Check, FactCheckHub, and DUBAWA. Other partners are the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Digital Africa Research Lab, Daily Trust, TheCable, Premium Times, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), FactsMatterNG, and Round Check.
