The sixth annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) has continued to gain traction across sectors with partnerships being forged among key institutions in the country.

Chairman, 2022 Conference Committee, Mr. Ken Ugbechie, disclosed that some notable institutions have firmed up their partnership for this year’s conference slated to hold on Thursday, October 6 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja-Lagos.

He listed some of the key institutions to include the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc.), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

Others are First Bank Plc, the Nigeria Liquefied National Gas (NLNG) Limited, The Presidency, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA, etcetera.

A press statement by GOCOP Publicity Secretary, Remmy Nweke, also quoted Ugbechie as saying that this year’s theme is “2023 Elections: Managing the Process for Credible Outcome” and will feature prominent stakeholders in the polity, civil society organisations, security, judiciary and media, to name a few.

Ugbechie also noted that this year’s conference will be holding barely five months to the 2023 general elections and one week into the official commencement of campaigns by political parties, thus it provides a roadmap for political actors and the various publics on the need to play by the rules and conform to acceptable electoral behavior.

He further highlighted that this year’s conference will be heralded by a business luncheon with GOCOP partners and other media stakeholders on Wednesday, October 5, at the same venue.

It could be recalled that previous speakers at GOCOP conferences include Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto who took to the podium in 2019 to speak on “Economy, Security and National Development: The Way Forward”. In 2021, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation keynoted the Conference in his capacity as Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19. He spoke on: “Post Covid-19 Pandemic: Recovery and Reconstruction in Nigeria.”

He recalled that “The Guild was established to ensure that online publishers uphold the tenets of journalism in doing their jobs and our membership is a constellation of Editors and senior journalists who, having distinguished themselves in their various stations, ventured into online publishing which is both the present and future of journalism globally.”

“The conference is therefore a fitting platform for the distillation and sharing of ideas from a carefully chosen array of resource persons cutting across the entire socio-political ecosystem. GOCOP intends to use the opportunity of the conference to moderate the already tense political climate as well as to proffer solutions to current and anticipated challenges arising from the elections,” the statement said.