Interfaith Mediation Centre (IMC) has tasked the media as agenda setter, to provide positive context towards promoting peaceful coexistence among Nigerians ahead 2023 general elections.
This is contained in a communique issued at the end of monthly Forum on Peace Journalism with media practitioners, on Saturday in Kaduna.
The forum was being organised by Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP) with support of IMC.
The communique jointly signed by IMC’s Rev. Micheal Ikpa, representatives of Kaduna Youth Peace Network and the Media, Eric John and Ibrahima Yakubu, charged journalists to be objective in their reportage.
“Practitioners in the country should sensitise and educate Nigerians not to see the 2023 general elections as a do or die affair,” it said.
The forum challenged media organisations to equip their reporters with modern equipments to enable them to discharge their duties effectively during the election coverage.
It urged residents of Kaduna State to shun ethnic and religious inclinations capable of instigating hate and disunity among the citizenry.
The forum also advised the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure free, fair, credible and acceptable elections as well as ensure transmission of election results electronically in accordance with the amended 2022 Electoral Act.
It further urged religious leaders not to use their sermons and congregations to preach disunity during pre and post-election periods to avoid causing divisions among Nigerians.
While urging critical stakeholders to sensitise the people, especially youth against involvement in political thuggery, the forum decried alleged incidents of vote buying in previous elections and called for prosecution of the culprits.