A group, the Positive Agenda Nigeria (PAN) has called on candidates and political parties participating in the forthcoming governorship election in Osun state to sensitise their members and supporters.
The group of researchers monitoring public policies and governance in the State noted that the need for the politicians to sensitise their members and supporters is necessary to avoid physical attacks before, during and after the gubernatorial election.
The Osun governorship election has been slated to hold on Saturday 16 July 2022.
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The group in a statement signed by its Team Lead, Dr Rasheed Adebiyi, urged the political parties and their members, especially the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition in the state, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sensitise their supporters and social media handlers on media literacy skills.
It said the sensitization is necessary to manage the rate of online personality attacks and potential physical attacks in the state prior, during and after the election.
According to PAN: “The online and offline trajectories of the campaign activities of the two leading political parties in the governorship election raises some concerns which should be addressed by the parties, the electoral umpire, and other stakeholders.
“That over 63% of 119 traces of attacks as a strategy discovered for the three weeks were found on pages of political parties’ supporters and groups is an indication that the political parties need to work with their members and supporters to prevent further escalation of online attacks into the physical space.
“That campaign buses and posters were destroyed also shows a lack of tolerance which can degenerate into more dangerous attacks if not controlled.
“Political campaigns should be opportunities for presenting manifestoes and convincing the electorate about parties’ programmes and projects, and not for discussing the competencies and maligning personal attributes of political opponents.
“This report shows that beyond their political differences, the two leading political parties united to condemn the physical attacks that occurred during the ruling party’s campaign activities in a town in the state.
