In a significant step towards strengthening Nigeria’s democratic resilience, the Oak Centre in Abuja has trained members of the National Assembly Press Corps on how to combat disinformation and artificial intelligence (AI)-generated falsehoods ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The intensive session brought together members of the National Assembly New Media Forum, Senate Press Corps, and House of Representatives Press Corps for a hands-on introduction to advanced verification techniques, digital forensics, and strategies for countering the growing threat of AI-driven misinformation.
Participants described the experience as transformative, noting that it equipped them with tools to navigate the evolving challenges of modern journalism. “It was three hours of intensive training, learning and relearning. We now know how to combat fake news using AI itself,” said Caroline Ame of the Nigerian Observer.
Sandra Michael, a radio journalist, added: “There are a lot of fake audios online that sound real. Now I can double-check them using verification tools. The training was intense but eye-opening.”
For Daily Independence correspondent Joshua Kingsley Bernard, the training stood out for its practical approach: “It was not a lecture, it was a dialogue. The trainers used real examples, gave us resources, and guided us through practical verification techniques.”
The relevance of the training to Nigeria’s electoral context was a recurring theme. “This will help us verify content that will inevitably flood in from various platforms as the elections approach,” said Segun Falade of Quest TV and FM. Love FM Abuja’s Akin Oluwole described it as “an eye-opener to the emerging changes in our industry,” noting that journalists now bear greater responsibility to verify before publishing.
The Oak Centre emphasised that the initiative forms part of a broader effort to prepare Nigerian journalists for the risks of AI-enabled information disorder. With deepfakes, altered audio, fabricated documents, and bot-amplified propaganda already undermining trust globally, the Centre underlined the importance of building newsroom resilience at one of the country’s most critical democratic institutions.
By equipping National Assembly correspondents with these tools, the Oak Centre has set a new benchmark for media preparedness, underscoring that verified truth in an AI era is not only a journalistic standard but also a democratic safeguard.
