COMMUNIQUÉ

Renowned Nigerian communication teachers and practitioners under the aegis of the Consortium of Nigerian Communication Experts (CoNCE), having critically and objectively analyzed the recent presidential election campaigns and the results of the voting have concluded that although there were some positive outcomes, many things went wrong.

Among the things that were adjudged to have gone wrong in the lead up to the election were:

• Divisive, unethical, and unprofessional communication campaign strategies, tactics, and messages that created unnecessary tension.
• Overemphasis on religion and ethnicity and the exploitation of personal and group identify in appealing to supporters.
• The unnecessary denigration of individual presidential candidates, their character, and personality.
• Overpromising on the preparedness of the electoral institutions, especially INEC, which had assured the government and people of its absolute preparedness for successful conduct of free and fair elections.
• The negative influence of money in buying votes and bribing electoral officers.
• The unexpected decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to introduce new Naira notes within a very short time.
• The use of politicians instead of trained professional communicators as spokespersons for some of the political parties.
• And many others.

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Relating to the conduct of voting, the transmission, and the eventual announcement of the final results, the participants observed as follows:

• INEC failed to live up to the voters’ expectations because of the delays in the delivery of voting materials in some centres.
• Compared to previous Nigerian elections, the conduct of this election was generally peaceful in spite of some flashpoints of violence, voter intimidation, and under-age voting.
• The much-publicized benefits of the new technologies of BVAS and iRev were not realized due to man-made errors that could have been avoided.
• Although the parties produced well-thought-out and colorfully designed manifestos, they did not find much use for these in the actual media campaigns because of their penchant for non-issues and innuendos rather than specific programs.
• In spite of the failures, there were free and fair voting and accurate reporting of results in many centres.
• The final results, as announced by INEC, showed that the major political parties performed along the same old traditional cleavages of religion, region, and ethnicity, even with the emergence of a third party that seemed to appeal more to the youths

Recommendations:

The participants recommend that:

• The political parties should appoint spokespersons who are experienced communication professionals, and as much as possible, should use only duly registered Nigerian advertising and public relations agencies.
• INEC’s communication must improve its capacity to provide adequate public enlightenment and education on voting procedures to avoid such calamitous failures in future elections.
• INEC and the other information and communication organs of government, especially the National Orientation Agency (NOA) must collaborate closely and be guided by the public interest.
• The regulation of election campaign advertising must be sustained and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), as both a government agency and a body created to propagate the ethical conduct of advertising, should be fully empowered to discharge its functions.
• Greater use of communication professionals in all aspects of election campaigns is necessary for the attainment of desirable communication results in elections and subsequently in governance.

The 13 Speakers:

This assessment workshop was the fifth in the series of communication engagements that were designed to examine the various uses of communication in the 2023 election cycle. This virtual event, which was held on Saturday March 4, attracted 145 discussants from diverse communication sectors. The 13 speakers represented the following organizations:

• Tolulope Olorundero, NIPR and Nigerian Women in PR
• Professor Abdullahi Bashir, President, African Council for Communication Education (ACCE).
• Bunmi Oke, Past-President, Association of Advertising Agencies in Nigeria (AAAN).
• Margaret Olele, CEO/General Secretary, Nigerian American Business Council.
• Professor Lai Oso, Ex-President, Association of Communication Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria (ACSPN).
• Chido Nwakanma, President, International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
• Emmanuel Ajufo, President, Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigerian (OAAN).
• Comrade Isiguzo, President, Nigerian Union of Journalists and African Journalists Association.
• Adewale Adeniyi, Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.
• Lekan Fadolapo, Director General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON).
• Everest Amaefule, Business Editor, The Punch.
• Professor Samaila Mande, President, Brands Academy Nigeria.
• Dr Ikechukwu Neliakuchukwu, Chairman, Rightangle PR, Abuja

Among the 145 Discussants were:

• Jahman Anikulapo, veteran Journalist and Executive Director, Culture Advocates Caucus, Lagos
• Bimbo Oloyede, veteran Nigerian TV journalist and producer
• Biodun Adefila, Chief Operating Officer – SO & U Advertising
• Oise Ihonde, Director of Sales at MODEC, Houston, Texas, United States
• George Chukwu, Deputy Director National Broadcast Academy
• Blaise Udunze, The Nigerian Voice, Lagos, Nigeria
• Marie Awolaja, Isobar Nigeria

Who We Are: The Consortium of Nigerian Communication Experts (CONCE) is the umbrella network of academic and professional communication associations and individual patriotic Nigerians who are committed to the purposeful uses of communication in all its aspects and ramifications to promote sustainable social development through research, education, capacity building, and advocacy. We are nonpartisan and have no ideological or political party affiliation.

Links to video recording of the online workshop:

https://youtu.be/WWv77MQwSh4

 https://youtu.be/RjfTuLuQXII