Shun disinformation, hate speech, NOA tells politicians 

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has charged politicians to desist from disinformation and hate speech that is capable of disrupting the electoral process during 2023 poll.

The Director-General of NOA, Dr Garba Abari, gave this charge at the National Fact-Checking Course Eight for Information Officers of Security Agencies and Government’s Agencies in Abuja.

Abari expressed worry over the upsurge in disinformation, misinformation which are used by politicians to cause disaffection and division among people.

According to him, this development is heating up the polity and negatively affecting the very fabric of our national peace and cohesion as we draw closer to the general elections.

“We have seen narrative especially in the social media that are often intended to instigate hate, anger, and acrimony with the aim of causing disaffection, division along our fault lines.

“We have seen in recent times how some politicians desperate for power and resorting to disinformation as a tool for opposition and destabilization.

“Some religious bigots are recklessly elevating their pulpits for sermonizing on hate and division, while ethnic warlords and secessionists are deploying hate speech and threatening to disrupt electoral process come election day,’’ Abari said.

Furthermore, the NOA DG said that the fact checking course was one of the strategies deployed by the agency to tackle the menace of disinformation in the nation’s information eco-system.

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