NGE calls for electoral reforms, 50% presidential threshold, timely election dispute resolution

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has called for far-reaching constitutional and electoral reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, including the introduction of a 50 per cent threshold for presidential elections and the resolution of electoral disputes before the swearing-in of declared winners.

The Guild also called for reforms to the process of appointing the chairman, National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as State Electoral Commissioners.

The resolutions were contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC 2026), held in Enugu from September 24 to 26, 2026 and signed by Eze Anaba and Onuoha Ukeh, president and general secretary respectively.

The conference, which had the theme, “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,” was chaired by the Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, while the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, delivered the keynote address.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, participated virtually as Special Guest of Honour, while the Enugu state Governor, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, was the Chief Host.

More than 500 editors, publishers and senior media practitioners from print, broadcast and digital platforms, as well as political, traditional, religious, academic, regulatory and development-sector leaders attended the conference.

The Guild said the conference examined the challenges confronting Nigeria’s electoral democracy, particularly the threats posed by artificial intelligence, misinformation, disinformation, electoral insecurity and declining public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The communiqué stated that the Guild observed that while the ballot remained the principal instrument through which citizens exercise their sovereign will, its value depended on credible information, public confidence in the electoral process and the assurance that votes would be properly counted and respected.

It identified voter apathy as a product of several factors, including poor governance, electoral violence and intimidation, administrative shortcomings, declining public confidence and concerns over the relationship between electoral outcomes and subsequent judicial decisions.

The editors expressed concern that judicial interventions in some electoral disputes had created perceptions in sections of the public that court decisions could displace outcomes recorded at the ballot box.

The Guild, however, stated the need to respect judicial independence, while calling for electoral adjudication that is timely, transparent, predictable and impartial, with genuine electoral irregularities appropriately addressed.

The editors further called for the resolution of electoral disputes within appropriate timelines and preferably before the swearing-in of declared winners.

They also recommended consideration of an appropriate constitutional threshold for presidential elections and provision for a run-off where the candidate with the highest number of votes fails to secure up to 50 per cent of the votes cast.

The Guild also called for a review of the limitations placed on ordinary voters seeking to challenge electoral results and advocated a constitutional framework that would permit independent candidacy.

The conference identified generative artificial intelligence, deep fakes, voice cloning and automated networks as major emerging threats to the integrity of electoral information.

It warned that synthetic content could be produced and distributed rapidly, including fabricated election results, cloned voices of public officials, forged documents, manipulated result sheets and fake reports attributed to established media organisations.

The editors said the greatest danger was not merely the circulation of individual falsehoods but the broader erosion of public trust when citizens became unable to distinguish authentic information from fabricated content.

The Guild therefore urged newsrooms to institutionalise fact-checking and verification systems and integrate digital verification, deep fake detection and forensic tools into their editorial workflows.

It also reaffirmed the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage (Revised 2022), jointly endorsed by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union and Guild of Corporate Online Publishers.

The Guild urged all news organisations to adopt the Code and train their journalists and other editorial staff on its provisions ahead of the 2027 elections.