The International Press Centre has called on journalists covering Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State to remain vigilant about their personal safety while upholding the highest standards of professional and responsible reporting. 

The appeal comes ahead of the June 20, 2026 poll, which has been described as a significant test of Nigeria’s democratic process, with the IPC having invested considerable effort in the months leading up to the election to prepare the media for the task of credible electoral coverage.

IPC Executive Director Lanre Arogundade, who has led the organisation’s pre-election engagement with media practitioners in the state, stressed that journalists must prioritise public interest in their coverage and resist the pull of partisan reporting.

The IPC’s interventions in Ekiti were conducted under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Phase II programme a five-year initiative designed to strengthen democratic governance by building the capacity of the media across multiple components. The programme previously supported journalist training ahead of elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, Imo, Edo, and Ondo states, with Ekiti marking the latest rollout.

The safety warning carries added weight given fresh data from IPC’s own monitoring systems, which show that attacks on journalists during Nigeria’s electoral cycles have become increasingly common and severe. A report released by the organisation earlier this year, titled “Nigeria’s Media Under Pressure: Press Freedom and Digital Rights in 2026,” found that attacks on journalists had surged by 40 percent, with security forces, particularly the police, implicated in 74 percent of recorded incidents.

The IPC has documented no fewer than 20 attacks on journalists during the 2023 general elections alone, ranging from physical assaults to unlawful arrests and detentions.

In his engagement with Ekiti journalists, Arogundade urged authorities to guarantee media access to polling information and commit to zero tolerance for harassment of reporters. The Nigeria Union of Journalists chairman in Ekiti State, Comrade Kayode Babatuyi, also assured that journalists in the state would provide balanced and professional coverage of the election. INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, further pledged that only accredited journalists would be permitted to cover the exercise and reiterated a commitment to unfettered access to information.

Beyond safety, the IPC’s training sessions placed strong emphasis on the threat of misinformation and disinformation in the digital age. Resource persons at the sessions urged journalists to master fact-checking, embrace artificial intelligence tools in their practice, and ensure that their election coverage remains issue-driven rather than personality-focused. The organisation has said it will issue a preliminary report on election day, followed by a comprehensive assessment of the conduct of the poll adding an independent media monitoring layer to the broader framework of oversight surrounding Saturday’s contest.