The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has instructed its personnel to perform effectively throughout the electoral cycle in preparation for the upcoming Osun governorship election on August 15.
Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, Osun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, made this remark on Tuesday as she kicked off a two-day capacity-building training for Electoral Officers and Assistant Electoral Officers in Osun State.
Babalola stated that the exercise was aimed to provide participants with the knowledge and abilities needed to properly carry out their responsibilities before, during, and after elections.
According to Babalola, the workshop’s goal is to ensure and improve the capacity of Electoral Officers and Assistant Electoral Officers ahead of the election. The commission expects them to perform well before, during, and after the polls.”
She explained that participants would receive training in pre-election operations such as ad hoc staff recruiting and logistical management.
“We are also training them on recruitment and the use of INEC processes for the recruitment of ad hoc staff, as well as logistics, which has to do with the distribution of personnel and materials for the election,” she said.
The Osun INEC chairman stated that election management would also be a major focus of the training program, with an emphasis on result management and tactics for dealing with any difficulties during the electoral process.
“We are also instructing them in election management. “We will go into great detail about result management and problem solving,” Babalola stated.
She revealed that the session would address communication management during elections, as well as monitoring electoral operations to ensure that the polls go well.
The training also includes sessions on technology and how to use various technical tools in elections.
Babalola described the workshop as an in-house exercise preceding the commission’s broader technical training, stating that it will provide participants with a solid foundation in election management before the technical sessions begin.
“So these are all the areas and, at the end of it, we are going to do a technical session because this workshop is like an in-house workshop ahead of the training session that the Commission is planning, so that by the time we have our technical training, they would have enough knowledge of election administration,” she stated.
She was confident that the participants would implement the knowledge gained during the session in the performance of their tasks.
“I also expect them to carry out their jobs properly before, during, and after the election. We expect them to understand what they are doing and perform admirably,” Babalola remarked.
The workshop will be attended by department heads, electoral officers, assistant electoral officers, and unit heads.