Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joins call for Nigeria to ensure internet and social media services remain connected during elections

The letter, addressed to Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, emphasized how internet disruptions inhibit journalists' ability to safely conduct reporting and run contrary to international law. It also highlighted additional social and economic costs of internet outages.

"The media is critical to this particular election and critical to people understanding both the [election's] processes and procedures," Festus Okoye, national commissioner of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission, told CPJ on February 13. Okoye also emphasized the importance of internet connectivity because the smart card readers used for voter identification are based on the internet. "Three networks--Glo, MTN, and Airtel--are powering them [the smart card readers], so if you jam the network there won't be any election...that's just the bottom line." he said.

Read the full letter here .

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

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