Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN, EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, INEC Chairman, Mr Mahmood Yakubu, among other guests have confirmed their participation at the third Annual Online Publishers Association of Nigeria (OPAN) New Media Conference holding at the Sandralia Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria. The event starts at 9am prompt.

The theme of this year’s conference is: Free Press and Objective Reporting in the 2019 Election year.

In a media statement distributed today, OPAN President, Austyn Ogannah, said the one-day conference will provide an interactive platform for new media practitioners – publishers, bloggers and social media influencers, to engage with government and state institutions on issues bothering on legal and regulatory frameworks for reporting elections, corruption in elections, ethics and professionalism in reporting elections in Nigeria and the independence and media literacy of the judicial system.

Other issues to be explored according to the OPAN President are conflict sensitiveness and hate speech, the dangers of fake news in a multi-ethnic society in an election year, digitally reporting election results, the social media and INEC rules, among other topics.

Ogannah said other top officials invited to the conference include the vice presidential candidate of the PDP, Mr Peter Obi, candidates of other political parties, including Mr Kingsley Moghalu, Oby Ezekwesili, among other candidates, lawmakers, senior lawyers, the Ambassadors of US, UK and Canada to Nigeria, representatives from civil society groups and the judiciary.

The OPAN president further said all addresses delivered at the conference will be complied and published in a book to be unveiled at the 4th annual conference next year.