Ahead of any Nigerian election cycle, one question keeps circling back around newsrooms and civic spaces: can media outlets call a winner before INEC makes it official? According to civic advocate Samson Itodo, the answer sits somewhere in the middle, and the distinction matters more than most people realise.
Media organisations are well within their role to share and aggregate results as they are officially announced at various collation levels. That kind of real-time reporting serves the public, keeps citizens informed, and holds the process accountable. There is nothing wrong with it, and in fact it is part of what a healthy press is supposed to do.
The line gets crossed when a media outlet presents those figures as a final declaration of the election outcome. Until INEC formally declares and returns a winner, every number in circulation is part of an ongoing results process, not the conclusion of one. Treating a projected total as a done deal can mislead voters, inflame tensions, and muddy the legitimacy of the final announcement.
The framing a newsroom chooses in those hours between collation and declaration can shape public perception in ways that outlast the broadcast. How Nigerian media handles that window is a question worth sitting with long before voting day arrives.
Originally published by Premium Times.