Ahead of the 2023 general elections, INEC in collaboration with the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES), is training its master trainers on the use and management of latest technology for the general elections.
The chairman, Professor Mohamoud Yakubu who spoke in Abuja at the start of training of 82 Registration Area Technical Support officials on technologies for the 2023 General Elections in Abuja said the officials will be involved in the training of ad hoc staff for the 176,846 Polling Units nationwide.
According to Prof. Abdullahi Abdu-Zuru, the board chairman, the Electoral Institute, “the special training will culminate to the retraining of all categories of electoral personnel for delivery of effective and efficient electoral services at all levels as this will make election officials imbibe the right knowledge, skill sets and attitude needed for the discharge of their duties and responsibilities towards the conduct of free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent elections.
The Commission will be deploying several technologies in the conduct of the 2023 General elections in compliance with Sections 47(2), 60(4) and 64(4) of the Electoral Act 2022 and the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of Elections, 2022.
“Therefore, this training is of utmost significance as it further builds the capacity of the Commission’s Master Trainers who coordinate training at strategic levels, thereby enhancing the credibility and integrity of the electoral process”, Prof. Zuru said.
In his goodwill message, Director, International Foundation for Electoral Systems – Nigeria Seray Jah said the training would help the Commission to generate a pool of master trainers who will support the cascade training of over 10, 000 technical support staff across the 36 states and the FCT, for the 2023 General elections.
Some of the latest technologies deployed by the Commission include: Electronic Voters Register (EVR), Permanent Voters Card (PVC), Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
The training had in attendance stakeholders including the Chairman Board of Electoral Institute, Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru and country director, the International Foundation for Electoral System, Serah Jah.
