Yemisi Izuora
As the Ekiti Gubernatorial elections holds on Saturday, 20th June 2026 the International Press Centre (IPC) and Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Lagos-Nigeria, has once again tasked journalists and other media professionals who would be on duty to adhere to professional standards while also being safety conscious.
The governorship election is scheduled to hold across sixteen (16) Local Government Areas (LGA) within the state.
The Executive Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said the admonition had become necessary in the light of the critical role that the media plays during electioneering processes and elections during which journalists’ safety may be threatened.
“It is very important for journalists covering the Ekiti State election to be safety conscious in the discharge of their duties, and to avoid situations that will put them in harm’s way. Journalists are expected to be non-partisan. Being partisan is not only about being a member of a political party but also includes the use of expressions and/or impressions with statements, tags, symbols and colours that portray or identify with a particular political party or personality”, Mr. Arogundade said.
He also admonished journalists covering the election to be well kitted.
“Journalists who are to cover the elections should ensure that they are fully kitted and accredited to do so, in order to avoid situation wherein security agencies would have to question them or bar them from performing their duties. Journalists, who are not on election duty, should avoid straying into the identified polling units at will during the stipulated period of the election. At all times, journalists covering the elections must have their identification card and press/media tag clearly displayed to avoid undue harassment and unnecessary identity checks by the security agencies.” Mr. Arogundade added.
Also speaking, Dr. Akin Akingbulu, Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), a partner organisation in the IPC/CEMESO-Safety of Journalists framework, underscored the democratic imperative of journalist safety, noting that the conditions under which journalists are permitted to work constitute a direct measure of a society’s commitment to its own civic values. “Every election is, at its core, a test of those values — and nowhere is that test more visibly administered than in the field.
Amongst other activities, IPC/CEMESO will during the election be partnering with the Ekiti State Police Command in ensuring the safety of journalists deployed to the field. Through the IPC/CEMESO safety initiative journalists who face any form of violation or attack on the field can directly reach the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) assigned to that area command/division, Mr. Arogundade stressed.
We expect the security forces to note that the media is a critical part of the electoral process and so the media should be accorded with due rights and privileges to enable them to carry out their social obligations as partners in enshrining the credibility of the electoral process.
“Other stakeholders, including elections observers should also proactively provide journalists covering the elections with information to ensure that all work together for the credibility of the electoral process”, Mr. Arogundade added.
As part of initiatives to keep tab on the safety consciousness of journalists, IPC/CEMESO said that there are safety alert officers who journalists under threat/attack can report to.
In cases of attacks or insecurity issues, concerned journalists on the field can contact any of the following persons:
Melody Akinjiyan (Press Freedom Officer) – +2348132776441
Stella Nwofia (Monitoring Officer) – +2348063810424
Bukola Obaujo (Monitoring Officer) – +234 8146333108
Naomi Ibrahim (Monitoring Officer) – +2348065545113
Mr. Arogundade also encouraged journalists to report any threats to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ, Ekiti State Chapter.
The deployment of journalists to cover the Ekiti gubernatorial election is not merely a professional exercise; it is an act of democratic service. When a journalist is harassed, barred, or attacked at a polling unit, it is not simply that individual who suffers — it is the electorate that is robbed of the witness it deserves. The partnership between the IPC/CEMESO-Safety of Journalists initiative and the Ekiti State Police Command is a meaningful structural intervention, but it must be understood as a floor, not a ceiling. The real measure of our seriousness will be seen not in the protocols we announce, but in the culture of protection we actually demonstrate on election day,” Dr. Akingbulu further stated.
On the broader relationship between security forces and the press during elections, Dr. Akingbulu called for functional collaboration grounded in mutual respect for institutional roles. “The relationship between security personnel and journalists during elections has historically been one of the most contested frontiers in Nigeria’s democratic experience — shaped by mutual suspicion on both sides.
What the IPC/CEMESO-Safety of Journalists initiative field coordination model represents is an attempt to convert that adversarial dynamic into one of purposeful cooperation, not because the press and security forces share the same mandate, but because both are ultimately accountable to the same civic outcome: a credible election. I would, however, caution against a naïve reading of this arrangement. Collaboration must never drift into co-optation. The media’s independence is not a courtesy that security institutions extend to journalists — it is a right guaranteed by the democratic framework within which those institutions themselves derive their legitimacy. Every stakeholder in the electoral ecosystem must internalise that protecting the press is not a favour to journalists. It is an investment in the integrity of the process itself,” Dr. Akingbulu concluded.
Towards the Presidential elections in 2023, IPC launched a safety and professional advisory for the purpose of ensuring journalists who are covering the elections are fully equipped with safety tools and precautions to engage with while on the field.