Damage is immediate and enduring’ — INEC warns over fake election claims

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has warned that unverified claims of electoral fraud could origin lasting harm to nationalist assurance and worsen elector apathy up of the 2027 elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, issued the informing connected Thursday successful Lagos portion speaking astatine the 10th Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP.

Amupitan, who was represented by the Lagos Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Ayobami Salami, cautioned online publishers against publishing fake news, unverified leaks, sensational reports and clickbait headlines during predetermination reporting.

He said publishing unverified allegations of electoral fraud could proceed to harm assurance successful the electoral process adjacent aft the claims had been corrected oregon retracted.

“When an unverified assertion regarding electoral fraud is published, the harm to nationalist assurance is contiguous and enduring; consequent retractions oregon fact-checks seldom repair the injury,” Amupitan said.

The INEC president urged publishers to verify election-rel...