By-Elections: INEC Commence Training Of Electoral Officers

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has initiated the training of electoral officers tasked with conducting the nationwide by-elections scheduled for February 3, 2024.

The training commenced on Thursday, January 18, beginning with the Training of Trainers, organised by the Electoral Institute as part of the preparation for the upcoming elections.

The trainers will be actively engaged in instructing election officials and ad-hoc staff.

The training team includes TEI trainers, staff from collaborating departments such as ICT and Electoral Operations, who have come to educate the trainees on recent innovations introduced into the election process. Additionally, State Training Officers (STOs) participated in the Training of Trainers session through Zoom.

Director General of the Electoral Institute, Sa’ad Umar Idris, stated that the objective of the workshop was to ensure that, by the conclusion of the training, participants would possess the capability to organise and implement comprehensive and effective training in all the affected states.

He mentioned that by the end of the exercise, participants responsible for coordinating trainers should be able to effectively train Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs), as well as Presiding Officers and Assistant Presiding Officers (POs/APOs), on billing and counting procedures.

Additionally, they should familiarise themselves with operating the BVAS and have the capacity to upload election results on the INEC Result portal using the INEC Results Viewing Device (IREV).

He urged participants to familiarise themselves with innovations and new initiatives so that they can effectively convey this knowledge to the Supervisory Presiding Officers, Presiding Officers, and Assistant Presiding Officers who will be closely working with them on Election day.

The Director-General further emphasised the importance of focusing on the training, as it was designed to strengthen their skills and contribute to enhancing the credibility of the electoral process in the country.

He highlighted some of the innovations that the Institute has introduced into the electoral process, such as the E-learning platforms and INEC Training bot, which were utilised during the 2023 General Elections to improve training and capacity building for election personnel.

He encouraged the trainers to emphasise the use of these E-platforms during the training sessions in their respective states.