The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has called for sweeping constitutional and electoral reforms, including a requirement that presidential candidates secure at least 50 per cent of votes cast or face a run-off.
The Guild also wants electoral disputes resolved before the swearing-in of declared winners, arguing that timely and credible adjudication is essential to restoring public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.
The recommendations were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC 2026), held in Enugu from 24 to 26 September.
The communiqué was signed by the NGE President, Eze Anaba, and General Secretary, Onuoha Ukeh.
The conference, themed “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive”, brought together more than 500 editors, publishers and senior media practitioners from print, broadcast and digital platforms, alongside political, traditional, religious, academic, regulatory and development-sector stakeholders.
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, chaired the conference, while the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, delivered the keynote address. Vice-President Kashim Shettima participated virtually as Special Guest of Honour, while Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah was the Chief Host.
The editors said the conference examined challenges facing Nigeria’s electoral democracy ahead of the 2027 general elections, including artificial intelligence, misinformation, disinformation, electoral insecurity and declining public confidence.
They identified voter apathy as a consequence of several factors, including poor governance, electoral violence and intimidation, administrative shortcomings and declining trust in the electoral process.
The Guild also expressed concern over public perceptions that judicial interventions in some electoral disputes could displace outcomes recorded at the ballot box.
While stressing the importance of judicial independence, the editors called for electoral adjudication to be “timely, transparent, predictable and impartial”, with genuine electoral irregularities properly addressed.
They recommended that electoral disputes be concluded within defined timelines and, preferably, before the inauguration of declared winners.
The Guild also called for a review of the process for appointing the Chairman, National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as State Electoral Commissioners.
It further advocated reforms to enable ordinary voters to challenge electoral results and urged the creation of a constitutional framework permitting independent candidacy.
On the presidency, the Guild recommended consideration of a constitutional threshold requiring a candidate with the highest number of votes to secure up to 50 per cent of votes cast, failing which a run-off would be held.
AI and electoral misinformation
The editors identified generative artificial intelligence, deepfakes, voice cloning and automated networks as growing threats to electoral information.
They warned that synthetic material could be used to fabricate election results, clone the voices of public officials, forge documents and result sheets, and circulate false reports in the name of established media organisations.
According to the Guild, the wider danger lies in the erosion of public trust when citizens can no longer distinguish authentic information from fabricated material.
It therefore urged news organisations to establish robust fact-checking and verification systems and incorporate digital verification, deepfake detection and forensic tools into their editorial processes.
The Guild also reaffirmed the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage (Revised 2022), jointly endorsed by major media associations, including the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NGE, Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union and Guild of Corporate Online Publishers.
It urged media organisations to adopt the Code and train journalists and other editorial staff ahead of the 2027 elections.
The editors reiterated that the media has a responsibility to provide accurate, verified and independent information while scrutinising governments, political parties and other centres of power.
They, however, said such scrutiny should not amount to suppressing legitimate achievements, calling for evidence-based journalism that neither exaggerates failures nor conceals verified developments.
The Guild also clarified that editorial neutrality means impartiality among legitimate political contenders and does not require journalists to remain silent in the face of verified wrongdoing or present false equivalence between established facts and unverified claims.
Journalists’ safety
The conference said election security must include the protection of journalists covering elections.
It warned that the electoral process could not be fully transparent where journalists were threatened, attacked, obstructed or prevented from independently observing and reporting events.
The Guild called on security agencies and political actors to protect journalists and allow them to perform their professional and constitutional responsibilities without intimidation.
It also urged INEC to maintain nationwide readiness assessments, strengthen technical partnerships in cybersecurity and electoral technology, protect the integrity of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and safeguard the commission’s institutional independence.
The editors stressed that election technology should remain subject to human oversight, transparency, accountability and legal verification.
Terrorism reporting
The conference also considered the challenges associated with reporting terrorism, particularly the balance between the public’s right to information and the risk of inadvertently amplifying terrorist propaganda.
It adopted the principle, “Inform, Don’t Amplify”, and urged newsrooms to identify terrorist claims as claims until independently verified.
The Guild advised media organisations to avoid reproducing propaganda, recruitment messages, slogans or graphic material unless there was compelling editorial justification.
It said terrorist attacks should be reported accurately and responsibly without giving undue publicity to terrorist organisations or inadvertently encouraging further violence.
The Guild concluded by reaffirming that the media should remain “pro-Nigeria, pro-Ballot and pro-People”, rather than align itself with any political party.
It said the credibility of Nigeria’s democracy ultimately depended on an electoral process in which citizens could make informed choices, vote freely and have confidence that their votes would be accurately counted and respected.
The conference featured presentations by former Nigerian Bar Association President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN; Bayero University law professor Auwalu H. Yadudu; former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian Newspapers, Martin Oloja; Paul University academic Chinyere Stella Okunna; Kennesaw State University professor Farooq A. Kperogi; and Save a Life Hospital founder and Chief Medical Director Richard Okoye.
The Guild expressed appreciation to the Enugu State Government and people for hosting the conference, as well as the speakers, panellists, sponsors and development partners who contributed to the event.
