Jigawa State Governor, Malam Umar Namadi, has urged Nigerian editors and media organisations to strengthen fact-checking, verification and digital literacy efforts to combat the growing threat of AI-generated disinformation to democracy.
Namadi made the call in a goodwill message at the 2026 All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Enugu. He said the media had a critical responsibility to provide accurate and objective information before, during and after elections, particularly as technology makes false content increasingly difficult to distinguish from reality.
The governor said credible elections depended not only on the ballot box but also on well-informed citizens who could make decisions without being manipulated by deceptive narratives. He urged newsrooms to invest in verification systems, fact-checking capacity, ethical technology use and collaboration to detect and debunk harmful disinformation.
Namadi also called for responsible regulation and enforcement of existing laws against deliberate online falsehoods, stressing that such measures must protect citizens while respecting legitimate expression and press freedom. He said government and the media should work together on sustained information and media-literacy programmes to help citizens identify and reject misinformation.
He highlighted Jigawa’s Gwamnati da Jama’a citizens’ engagement programme, which takes government officials to all 27 Local Government Areas to present scorecards, answer questions and receive public feedback. He said the state’s proposed Digital Social Responsibility Programme would further promote digital literacy, ethical communication, civic responsibility and constructive engagement.
Namadi congratulated the Nigerian Guild of Editors on ANEC 2026 and expressed hope that the conference would produce practical measures to strengthen professionalism, public trust, national unity and democratic resilience in Nigeria.
Leave a comment