As Nigeria moves toward the 2027 general elections, the road is already crowded, and much of that crowd is online. The information landscape that will shape the next vote is no longer the familiar terrain of newspaper headlines, radio broadcasts and television interviews. It is a far more fluid and chaotic environment, shaped by algorithms, social media platforms, artificial intelligence and data-driven political campaigns. In this atmosphere, facts and fabrications can be generated at astonishing speed, and the difference between them is not always obvious. It is into this complicated and often dangerous territory that the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) has issued a strong call to the Nigerian media. The association has urged media organisations to strengthen their capacity to genuinely understand artificial intelligence, to detect misinformation and disinformation, and to protect electoral integrity as a fundamental part of democratic life. The message was delivered by Prof. Rotimi Williams Olatunji, the national president of ACSPN, during a media briefing in Abuja that marked the announcement of the association’s 2026 yearly conference. His words carried both urgency and purpose, because the challenge is not just technological, it is political, ethical and existential. Election periods in Nigeria are already delicate moments; if the media cannot explain the digital currents shaping public opinion, it will not simply lose credibility, it will fail the citizens who depend on it for truth. Prof. Olatunji’s charge was therefore not academic showmanship; it was a serious declaration that the media must see AI and misinformation not as side issues, but as central challenges of electoral communication.
The 2026 ACSPN annual conference is scheduled to take place at the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, in Abuja, and its theme makes the organisation’s concerns clear: “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication.” These are not just carefully chosen words; they capture a moment of profound transition. Media professionals are being asked to cope with speed that did not exist in earlier Nigerian elections. Videos can be manipulated, voices can be cloned, fake stories can be designed to look exactly like genuine journalism, and networks of fake accounts can be used to push one political cause into public view. At the same time, social media has also given ordinary Nigerians avenues to participate in political conversation in ways that were impossible before. For every danger, there is an opportunity: for more transparency, more citizen engagement and more inclusive discussion. The conference therefore aims to bring together communication scholars, academics and media professionals to think through how these new tools should be understood and harnessed. The choice of venue is important too. Holding the conference at the National Open University of Nigeria suggests a desire to make the discussions available beyond conventional academic spaces. It is a deliberate move to connect scholarship with the wider public, on the grounds that, a participation and digital citizenship, no one should be left outside the conversation.
One of the most important ideas Prof. Olatunji raised at the briefing was his description of ACSPN and the media as two wings of one bird. It was a poetic moment, but it also contained a simple and powerful truth. Neither side can survive without the other. Scholars can produce evidence, see patterns and interpret complex data, and they can measure how misinformation spreads and understand how algorithms shape voter behavior. But their work has little direction if it stays only within universities and journals. Similarly, journalists are at the front, interviewing candidates, fielding claims and reporting on daily campaigns, but if they do not have the insight of the research intelligentsia, they are more likely to be caught out by complicated lies. Prof. Olatunji argued that the media, especially in the public service, should be a critical responsibility to promote commentary based on facts, to challenge both misinformation and disinformation, and to give citizens information enough to make informed democratic choices. That is a enormous burden. It means that reporters must be asking not only what is being said but what is behind it, why a certain content exists, who is paying it and what effect it is likely to have. This kind of media behaviour does not happen automatically. It requires training, preparation, resources and willingness to admit that the digital transformation has changed the rules.
The rise of artificial intelligence brings a new set of threats that many newsrooms have not yet fully absorbed. AI can write convincing articles, create fake photographs, generate speeches and images by candidates that never said or did those things, and mimic the voices of public officials. When this is combined with social media algorithms that learn to promote the most extreme and engaging content, the potential for damage becomes enormous. A strategic lie for a group can go viral within hours; fact-checking can then’t be too little. The ACSPN president therefore reminded media organisations to interrogate to implications of AI, social media, algorithms, data analytics and online platforms as they prepare for the 2027 elections. This is not just about watching for obvious lies; it is about understanding how the digital space communicates, who has power in it, and how the technology can be used to shape public choices. The media has an obligation to expose campaigns of disinformation, not simply by fact-checking a single statement but by explaining the patterns, source interests and connections. It must help citizens understand how content choices are made for them, so that voters can learn to question information systems, not just individual headlines. The growing relationship between technological tools and democracy means that future election integrity will be nearly implausible without the health of the media.
Prof. Olatunji also called on scholars to make their research accessible to journalists, policymakers and members of the public. This is not a helpful wish but a practical demand. Universities across Nigeria are producing excellent work on media, elections and digital communication, but too much of that work remains hidden behind paywalls and in academic style. Meanwhile, people in the public square are trying to make sense of fast-changing technologies. If the insight of scholars does not play a role in journalism, policy and ordinary conversations, then the distance between academia and the audience grows wide, and the media runs the issue (or the false solution) of technical tools. The ACSPN president also appeals media to partner with the association in bringing conference discussions beyond the academic community. He wants citizens in every corner of Nigeria to feel the value of this conversation, not as isolated observers but as active participants. The conference is meant to contribute to the larger national conversation about the future of democracy in a digitally transformed Nigeria and Africa. It should generate evidence, test old assumptions and propose solutions that can guide scholarship, professional practice, policy-making and citizen participation. In that way, the 2026 gathering is not merely a ceremonial event; it is a effort to build a unified front of knowledge and action that will reach the 2027 election period and beyond.
Finally, the association has planned to introduce fellowship awards and special awards that will honor exceptional dedicates to communication scholarship and practice, professional excellence and development. It announced that posthumous fellowship awards will be presented to the late Prof. Lai Oso, the pioneer president of ACSPN, and the second founding member, late Prof. Dayo Alao, among others. These honours are more than just cemetary recognition. They preserve the institutional memory of the association and remind young and veteran professionals that communication has a history and a finured foundation. Named of the late professors represent a tradition of intellectual discipline, service and a dedication to Nigeria’s media that the current generation can learn from. In an age that is fascinated by the new, the awards remind everyone that respect for earlier herders must not be lost. Without that sense of continuity, discussions about AI and digital disruption can become shallow, disconnected to the ethical foundations that give it depth. Prof. Olatunji sees these awards as a way of supporting intergenerational mentorship, enabling those who are building the future to remember those who laid the ground. The memory of pioneer scholars and the challenges of the upcoming digital landscape, both contribute to the same goal: the need to keep communication honest, public and responsible. In that context, the ACSPN executive call to the media is a call to Georgian journalists, researchers, citzens, and all citizens: to demand clarity in every concept, more honesty in every message and a media system strong enough to defend democracy in 2027 and well after.