News Investigators/ Joash Amupitan, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has urged broadcasting institutions to provide equal media coverage and visibility for all political parties in the country.
Prof. Amupitan gave the advice on Wednesday at the 81st General Assembly and 23rd Annual General Meeting, organised by the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja.
He said equal access to media coverage and visibility was imperative to enhance the integrity and credibility of the electoral processes.
He presented a paper entitled “The Management of the Airwaves: An Assessment of the 2026 Nigerian Electoral Act on Broadcast Media Coverage of the Election”.
According to him, equal access to media platform enables voters to receive diverse viewpoints, compare predictable alternatives and make informed choices.
“Without such guarantees, the electoral process risks becoming skewed in favour of those with greater access to media power, thereby undermining both credibility of the elections and legitimacy of resulting governments.
“The first important thing that to note is the regulation of political campaign the media uses, which results to equal access to media platform in electoral processes.
“The key feature of the Electoral Act is emphasis on equal access to media platform, specifically section 99 subsection two to five,” he said.
He quoted the law as providing that state apparatus, including the media, shall not be employed to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate at any election.
“This is very critical; state owned apparatus must not give advantage whatsoever to any political party.
“Secondly, the law says media time shall be allocated equally among political parties or candidates at similar hours of the day.
“You must manage the time, you must share it humanly. There must be fairness, and that is what we call media justice. That is the provision of the Electoral Act,” the INEC boss said
Prof. Amupitan said that Newspapers and other print outlets shape public opinion agenda setting and voters perception, adding that equal coverage helps to ensure that no candidate is systematically marginalised in public discourse.
“Collectively, these provisions give practical effect to the democratic ideals that election must be free, fair and competitive.
“It is worthy of note that any violation of this provision constitutes an offence under the Act punishable upon conviction.
“In the case of a public media, the punishment is a fine of two million Naira in the first instance, and five million Naira for subsequent conviction for principal officers.”
According to him INEC boss, the punishment regime elevates compliance from a regulatory expectation to a matter of legal obligations, signaling the importance of law.
“Another important thing to take note under the Electoral Act is the moderation of contents of political broadcast.
“The Act prohibits certain conduct at political campaigns by addressing the content of political broadcast, particularly by prohibiting the dissemination of hate speech, incitement and false information capable of undermining electoral integrity.”
In his remarks, Mr Charles Ebuebu, the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) said the 2026 Electoral Act imposed specific obligations on broadcasters, particularly regarding access, fairness, hate speech and misinformation.
According to him, the commission will be ruling out a reverse broadcast code appendix on electoral coverage within a few days.
“We expect BON’s cooperation on its interpretation and enforcement. Your theme asks for an assessment of how we manage the airwaves.
“My assessment, candidly, is that while progress has been made, we still see worrying trends.
“The monetisation of diversive rhetoric, the silencing of minority perspectives and the use of foreign-hosted platforms to circumvent local rules. These practises will not be tolerated, ” he said.
He said that the airwaves were not a free-for-all, adding that they are a finite national asset held for the trust of the Nigerian people.
The NBC DG urged BON to activate a robust real-time internal monitoring mechanism for the next elections, adding that the commission would rather partner with a self-regulating body than descend with sanctions.
“But make no mistake, where broadcasters violate the Electoral Act or the Broadcasting Code, especially regarding incitement and unverified results, the NBC would apply full sanctions, including fines, suspensions and licence revocations.”
NAN