CDD West Africa Tackles Misinformation Ahead of Anambra Governorship Election
By Chizoba Njaka
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa) has successfully hosted a crucial training and roundtable discussion in Onitsha, Anambra State, to address the pressing issues of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech in the lead-up to the November 8, 2025, governorship election. This event brought together key stakeholders from across the state to foster dialogue, oversight, and trust-building among stakeholders.
The Director, CDD West Africa, Dr. Dauda Garuba outlined the training's purpose as to equip stakeholders with the skills and knowledge needed to identify and combat misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech, while promoting inclusive representation across Anambra's three senatorial zones, specifically: Anambra Central (Awka), Anambra South (Nnewi) and Anambra North (Onitsha). This initiative according to him aims to empower stakeholders to effectively address these challenges in the lead-up to the 2025 Anambra gubernatorial election.
Dr. Garuba highlighted the training's key objectives, which include shaping the organizational approach to the electoral process, addressing misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech in the 2025 Anambra gubernatorial election. He emphasized that this initiative is part of CDD West Africa's broader efforts to ensure electoral integrity, promote democratic values and
mitigate the impact of misinformation.
Through stakeholder engagement and the promotion of fact-based information, CDD West Africa seeks to foster a more informed and peaceful electoral process.
In his presentation tagged, " Introduction of Information Manipulation", the facilitator, Mr. Raji Olatunji, described information manipulation as the intentional distortion, alteration, or selective presentation of information to sway people's perceptions, beliefs, or actions. He stressed the crucial role of fact-checking in verifying information accuracy and preventing the dissemination of misinformation.
Mr. Raji Olatunji highlighted the severe consequences of information manipulation, including its potential to influence public opinion, shape political decisions, damage reputations, and erode trust in institutions. He emphasized the importance of being aware of information manipulation and critically evaluating the information consume.
Mr. Olatunji also defined fact-checking as the process of verifying the accuracy of information, claims, or statements to determine their truthfulness and validity. This according to him involves researching, analyzing, and evaluating evidence to confirm or debunk claims, with the ultimate goal of preventing the spread of misinformation or disinformation. "Fact-checking is a crucial practice in journalism, academia, and other fields where accuracy and truth are paramount", he noted.
Participants expressed various concerns regarding current political trends, including misinformation and disinformation, increasing division among different political parties, inflammatory language, electoral manipulation and social justice and human rights. These concerns reflect a broader global trend of political disruption, with voters expressing dissatisfaction with traditional parties and incumbents in favor of alternatives promising radical change.
Participants also identified several key steps to move forward as to make the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fully independent to ensure credible elections, to implement a system where results are collated and announced at the polling unit level to enhance transparency and to encourage and facilitate full participation of youths in politics, recognizing their role as future leaders.