Protocols
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am highly delighted to welcome you all to the Training of Trainers (ToT) Programme for Political Party Agents towards the effective participation of Political Parties and their appointed Agents at the forthcoming February 25th 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Elections and the March 11th 2023 Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections.
Indeed, the 2023 General Election is unique as it will involve the highest number of voters so far recorded in the history of voter registration in the country. Approximately 93,469,008 voters are expected to participate in the forthcoming elections. The number is large and election personnel including Political Party Polling Agents must be knowledgeable of their roles and what is expected of them.
You may recall that the Electoral Institute (TEI), on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022 organized a Training for Political Party Executives on “The Electoral Act 2022: Imperatives for Political Parties and the 2023 General Election”. This training delivered by Prof Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, FCI Arb., renowned Legal Practitioner and former Professor of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, exposed the implications of various sections of the new Act to political Party Executives.

I once again, welcome the participants to this workshop who are the National Organising Secretary, National Publicity Secretary, Women Leader and Youth Leader of each party (or their representatives). You are expected to cascade this training to all other Party Agents at different levels before the commencement of the 2023 General Election scheduled to commence on Saturday, 25th February, 2023.

New innovations in the voting system that Polling Agents need to be aware of include the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which was introduced into our electoral process during the conduct of some elections in 2021. The BVAS adds facial technology to the existing fingerprint authentication this will ensure that all voters are authenticated by either of the technologies; With bi-modal authentication, no person can come to vote more than once, as the face or the fingerprints of the person would have been captured during accreditation. This further ensures a one-person-one-vote system. It is necessary to emphasize that warehoused PVCs can no longer be used during elections as every voter must be authenticated with the BVAS. The enactment of the 2022 Electoral Act has also helped the voter accreditation process, as the Law now recognizes technology (see Section 47 (2) of the Act), and there are clear punitive measures for the non-usage of accreditation devices on election day. Also, the total number of accreditations for an election will be sourced from the total number accredited using the Commission’s accreditation device – BVAS. The BVAS is, therefore, the only means for accreditation of voters on Election Day.

In addition, to improve the openness and credibility of elections, INEC decided to make available electronic copies of the PU Result Sheet (EC8A) for the General Public to view; this brought about the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal. This implies that the EC8A form filled and signed by each Presiding Officer (PO) is scanned or photographed and uploaded to a Public Domain which can be viewed by the General Public. This system ensures that the EC8A filled at the PU is the same as that brought to the Collation centre, as the RA Collation Officer checks the uploaded EC8A before collating the result.

At this juncture, I most sincerely wish to appreciate the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and the entire members of the Commission for approving this Training. I also want to thank the Chair, Board of Electoral Institute (BEI) Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru and other Board members for providing leadership and direction to the Institute.
I wish to thank the Director, training and her team for putting up this program, Directors of collaborating Departments, IFES for their support and cooperation and the entire participants for attending this workshop.
Once more, I welcome you all and wish you a worthwhile and fruitful interaction.

Thank you.

IFES-Nigeria-Goodwill Message ESP Validation Workshop-Abuja d1 2023-01-04

Protocols:

I consider it a great honor to welcome you all to this Validation exercise. This workshop is in line with the Commission’s practice to review Training Manuals and resources in line with the 2022 Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of Elections and the ICCES report on Election Security.

The Documents we are therefore validating at this workshop are :

1. The Electoral Security Personnel (ESP) Training Manual
2. The Electoral Security Personnel (ESP) Training Facilitators Guide

• The Electoral Security (ESP) Handbook

1. The Basic Security in Election Duty (BaSED) Handbook.

Prior to this day, the Electoral Institute in Collaboration with the European Center for Electoral Support (ECES) organized a three-day workshop on the Integration of Election Security into the Curricula of Nigeria security agencies training schools. The Workshop was held from 6^th – 8^th April, 2022 at the Golden Dabis Hotel, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria; with attendance from security agencies that are members of Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCESS), Civil Society organizations and the media inclusive. In total, fifty-three persons participated in the workshop. The aim of the workshop was to review the existing Election Security Training Manual and Handbook on Electoral Security for Security Personnel used for the training of security personnel deployed for election duty; and explore the opportunities in mainstreaming core modules into the training curricula of security training schools in Nigeria. Additionally, a review exercise of Security training resources was organised by TEI and IFES in Kano recently, where relevant and valuable contents of the existing Security Training Manual and Hand book, as well as the Electoral Security Personnel Training Facilitator’s Guide were interrogated in line with the code of conduct and Standard Operational guidelines for security agents on election duty.

Consequently, we are here today to validate the refined version of the documents mentioned above, to ensure best practices in the area of Election Security Training.  I should emphasize that these Election Security Training Documents will play a very critical role in the effective training of Security Personnel in securing the electoral environment for free, fair, credible and inclusive elections.

The outcome of this workshop is also to have an improvement in the professionalism of securing the electoral environment.

I urge you to further interrogate the structure of the training resources as objectively as possible, describing essential information about their purpose and authority clearly. Subsequently, we are to take ownership of the contents and have full knowledge of the training resources as well as their operations in order for the Commission, TEI, and Security agencies to be on same page in preparation for the forthcoming General Elections, 2023.

I expect that at the end of this validation exercise, the Security Training Documents that we are validating will be concise, informative, insightful, and authentic.

At this juncture, I would like to thank our Consultants, Contributors and Directors present for your efforts to add value to this workshop.

I want to sincerely thank the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) for providing technical support as usual. I express the Institute’s appreciation to DAI International for funding the participation of Uniformed Security Personnel. In addition, I also thank the Chairman, Board of the Electoral Institute (BEI) and other Members of the Board for their support and providing the necessary leadership to take the Institute to greater heights.

I most profusely thank the Hon. Chairman, INEC and the Commission for approving this workshop.

I wish you all fruitful deliberations.

Thank you all.

Protocol

It is my pleasure to welcome all participants to this event and convey the greetings, appreciation and goodwill of the Hon. Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who would have been here to spearhead this validation exercise but for some very pressing engagements that came up. I also deliver the goodwill and gratefulness of members of the Commission and other staff of INEC. We are very pleased you found time to be here today. We are equally pleased to welcome and appreciate members of the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES); our partners in Election Security  Management.

We all appreciate the fact that Election Security is vital to democratic consolidation through provision of enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections and thus strengthening the electoral process. Consequently, in preparations for the 2023 General elections, the Commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security are provided for election personnel, materials and processes. This is particularly significant to the Commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members constitute the core of the Polling Unit Election officials. Moreover, if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis. This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. Therefore, Security Personnel in particular and all election officials in general must be security conscious and alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all times. To this end, the National Security Adviser, Gen. Mohammed Babagana Monguno, CFR and the Chairman, INEC have jointly assured the nation that conducive environment will be provided for successful conduct of the 2023 general Election. Similarly, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, CFR, psc(+), NPM, fdc has conducted Election Security Management Workshops across the Six Geopolitical Zones. On its part the Commission, through The Electoral Institute, has institutionalised the development and implementation of a cascaded training mechanism for security personnel as a critical component of its training plan.

We are also aware that there is a new Electoral Legal Framework that will guide the 2023 as  a result of the enactment of the Electoral Act 2022 which prompted the review of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Conduct of Elections 2022. In particular, Sections 47(2), 60(1, 2 & 5), 62(1), 64(4a & 4b) and 64(5) of the Electoral Act 2022, which confers INEC with the power to use any technological device to transmit or transfer election results electronically are instructive in this regard. Emboldened by these legal protections, the Commission introduced new innovative technologies and procedures and made commitments to the Nigeria People that (a) Continuous Verification, Accreditation and Voting will be conducted at the Polling Units using the Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) and (b) Real-Time Polling Unit-level results will be uploaded on to the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal using the same BVAS. These commitments require innovative security strategies and deployments for protection of voters, election personnel, materials, equipment, the electoral processes as well as the general public and infrastructure. These innovative systems and processes minimize human errors and delays in results collation and improves the accuracy, transparency, and credibility of the results collation process thereby ensuring credibility of the process They were tested during the Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections, held on June 18, 2022 and July 16, 2022, respectively. The Hon. Chairman INEC has severally assured the nation that the BVAS and IReV will be deployed during the 2023 General Elections.

Reports on the conduct of security operatives during the elections conducted by the Commission specifically stand-alone Governorship Elections in Ekiti and Osun States have shown progressive and commendable improvement in their disposition to electoral training and professionalism on election duties. It is believed that the efficiency and effectiveness of security operatives during these Elections owe a lot to the Electoral Security Training conducted by The Electoral Institute (TEI) as reviewed by other critical stakeholders. In a bid to consolidate on these gains, TEI in collaboration with International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) held a three-day workshop to review the Electoral Security Personnel Training Manual and Handbook in Kano on the 9^th through 11^th August, 2022. The workshop:

1. Reviewed the subsisting Election Security Personnel (ESP) Manual and Handbook in the light of the prevailing security challenges in the country as well as the impact of the new provisions in the Electoral Act, 2022 on the operations of election security personnel; and
2. Developed a Training Guide (Facilitator) for Electoral Security Personnel training.

In view of the above, the Commission has invited renown election security experts and key critical stakeholders on election security management and conduct of elections in challenging electoral environments to interrogate and validate these Election Training Resources: (i) Election Security Personnel (ESP) Training Manual, 2023; (ii) Handbook on Election Security for Security Personnel (iii) Trainers’ Guide on Handbook for Election Security, 2023 and (iv) Basic Security on Election Duties (BaSED) Handbook , 2023. It very important to authenticate, refine and validate these training resources to ensure adequate preparation for the 2023 General Elections.

Given the calibre of participants gathered here today, I have no doubt that the discussions will be quite engaging, illuminating and fruitful. Therefore, on behalf of the Hon. Chairman, INEC, Commission members and staff, wish to appreciate and thank our development partners, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and their sponsors the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UK AID Department for International Development (DIFD) and the Consortium for Election and Political Processes Strengthening (CEPPS) for their untiring support and sponsorship of democracy promoting programmes in Nigeria, Africa and across the world. We also thank and appreciate the resource persons for sparing time to interrogate the documents and look forward to their insightful suggestions on validation of the documents. Once again we are grateful to all stakeholders for coming to share your experiences in fine-tuning the security training documents.

I wish us very fruitful and successful workshop.

Protocols:

I am happy to be here with you all today and I thank the DG TEI for the invitation. I am especially glad at the continued collaboration between the training department of TEI in conjunction with other departments and stakeholders in the actualization of our collective mandate. Election is a multi- stakeholder activity and it is wise to work with all stakeholders for the improvement of our electoral process and deliver free, fair and credible 2023 General election.

The Commission held a retreat in Lagos which had in attendance all the 36 RECs and Admin. Secs including the DG, TEI and the Director training from the 28^th November to 2^nd December, 2022. At the retreat, the Commission finalized the procedures as well as the timeline for the collection of the Permanent Voters Cards (PVC).

This ToT is an offshoot of that retreat because it is structured to introduce and familiarize you to the guidelines of the processes and procedures for PVC collection at the RA/ward level. This coming exercise is an elongation of the ongoing process of PVC collection at LG level which already commenced on the 12^th of December, 2022.

Taking the collection of PVCs to the RAs, aims to assist the Commission in increasing the number of PVCs collected ahead of the 2023 general elections as well as the number of voters mobilized for election. RECs and Electoral Officers have been enjoined to convene meetings with critical stakeholders in their respective states including traditional and religious rulers, civil society groups, community- based organizations and the media to brief them on the modalities for the collection of the PVCs in order to sensitize the public and ensure seamless exercise.

Therefore, I want to state that our success depends on our impartiality and independence. Our attitude and behavior are at all times under observation from the general public.

Let me also seize this opportunity to emphasize on the Commission’s stand that for any person to vote in any election organized by the Commission, he/she must be a registered voter and issued with a PVC. Our policy is “no PVC, no voting”. This is to dispel the misleading online statement that voters can vote without a PVC as long as their names are on the pasted register of voters. Having a PVC is a legal requirement and doing otherwise, will be a violation of the law as contained in section 47(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022. “a person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voters’ card to a presiding Officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered”. The PVC remains a mandatory requirement for voting during elections.

Therefore, I would like to count on the sheer determination, resilience and competence displayed by all of you, our members of staff to achieve these goals of the Commission and the country at large.

Finally, on behalf of the TEI Board, I profoundly thank the Chairman of the Commission and the Commission members for approving and funding this exercise. I also appreciate the Director General of the Institute, Director Training and all staff of the Training department for putting together this ToT. We are all committed to the delivery of free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent elections.

It is my pleasure and honor to declare this ToT exercise open.

Thank you and God bless us all.

Protocols:

Once again, we are assembled here for another round of ToT as part of activities leading to the 2023 General elections and it is my utmost pleasure to welcome you all today. This gathering is one among a series of ToTs and as the dates draw closer, we will keep meeting to rub minds, disseminate necessary information and motivate ourselves for the task at hand.

Following the end of the statutory period for the Display of the register of Voters for Claims and Objections, the Commission in its determination to make the collection of PVCs as seamless as possible, developed a Standard Operating Procedure and the first phase has been launched and it is currently ongoing at the LG level. This exercise commenced on the 12^th December, 2022. The next phase is to be conducted at the RA/Ward level (which is why we are here today), the Commission is taking the collection of the PVCs down to the 8,809 RAs/wards across the country. This is to ensure that the PVCs are brought as close to the prospective voter as possible.

This is the last among the CVR series which started with the CVR itself from the 28^th June, 2021 and lasted for 13 consecutive months until its suspension on the 31^st July, 2022. Then the display of the voter’s registers for claim and objections, Collection of PVC at LG level and now we are going to the R.As. It is easy to see that the Commission is making steady progress in all critical areas of preparation for the 2023 General elections.

Therefore, the training department of TEI in collaboration with Voter Registry and ICT departments will embark on a nationwide training of Issuance Officers who are mandated to carryout the distribution of PVCs at the RAs.

Adequate arrangements have been made by the Commission for the success of this exercise and it is incumbent on all participating staff to ensure effective management in adherence to the extant laws throughout every stage of the electoral process. I appeal to you to upload our code of conduct, display your usual sense of commitment and professionalism. I have confidence in your ability to consolidate on our recent successes.

At this juncture, I will like to appreciate the Chairman of the Commission and the entire Commission members for approving this program.

I also thank the Chairman, Board of the Electoral Institute, Prof. Abdullahi Abdul Zuru for his support to the Institute.

I wish us all fruitful deliberations

Thank you and welcome.

INTRODUCTION
In the build-up to the 2023 General Election, the Electoral Institute (TEI) organized a one-day Training-of-Trainers Workshop at the Institute’s Auditorium for Trainers that will be involved in the Training on Collection of of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) Exercise that will hold immediately from 22nd December, 2022, in line with Section 16 and 47 of the 2022 Electoral Act. The Trainers comprised of TEI and HQTRS Trainers, as well as State Training Officers (STOs) and Assistant State Training Officers (ASTOs) who joined the ToT via ZOOM.

OPENING FORMALITIES

In his welcome remarks, the Director General of the Institute, Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris, stressed that the TOT was designed to sharpen skill sets, increase self-confidence and equip Trainers to efficiently step down the training at State and LGA levels, especially for the Issuance Officers at Local Government and Registrantion Area Levels. He emphasised that the Commission in its effort and commitment to doing everything possible to continue to raise the bar higher to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, needed to ensure that the Collection of Permanent Voters Register was done in line with laid down processes and procedures and be publicised as much as possible.
The DG noted that the Voter Registry Department in collaboration with the State Offices will print the Collection List to be signed by registered Voters and Collection Register (2011 till date) for display at the Local Government/Area Council Offices nationwide using Commission staff for the exercise supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from the locality. He restated that there will be two (2) Issuance Officers at the RA Level and as many as possible at the Local Government Level which is on going.

The DG concluded by stating that the TOT was therefore a critical activity that required both Trainers and Trainees to exhibit every sense of diligence and willingness to learn the technicalities and functions professionally.

In his Opening Speech, the Chair, Board of the Electoral Institute (BEI), Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, represented by DG, TEI, reminded Trainers that the Electoral Act 2022 in Section 16 and 47 mandated the Commission to, distribute PVCs before a General Election at Local Government/Area Councils and Registration Areas and publish on its official website or any website for Voters to check the status of their PVCs. He observed that registered citizens, therefore had a way to verify their PVC details on the website before going to the collection centre.

The Chair BEI, before he declared the Training Open, strongly urged participants to take the training seriously and give it the utmost attention it deserved and also interrogate the process with all anticipated scenarios taken into consideration.
Participants at the TOT were taken through various modules namely: Delivery, Collection of PVCs and its flowchart;
Reporting and Complaints;
Management of the PVC and Collection; Roles and responsibilities of PVC management Officials;
Enabling Law; PVC Issuance Module; PVC Management and Collection Forms etc.

The TOT ended on a very high note as participants showed enthusiasm and readiness to cascade the training down to the state level and LGA levels. Participants were equally appreciative of the Commission for approving the training and giving participants a chance to be involved in the Collection management process leading to the conduct of the 2023 General Election.

Highlights of the Training:

The State Level Training of Trainers (ToT) on the display of Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) commenced today 4th November, 2022 at the Professor Mahmood Yakubu Hall, INEC Bauchi.

The DG TEI, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris during his opening remarks stressed that the State Level TOT was designed to sharpen skill sets, increase self-confidence and equip the AEOs and LGTOs to efficiently step down the training for the Revision Officers (REVOs) and the Assistant Revision Officers (AREVOs) at the LGA LEVEL. He emphasised that the Commission in its effort and commitment to doing everything possible to continue to raise the bar higher to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, needed to ensure that the Preliminary Register of Voters was sanitized as best as possible.

The DG noted that the Voter Registry Department in collaboration with the state offices will print the Register of Voters (2011 till date) for display at a Designated Centre in the Registration Area nationwide. Commission staff will then be used for the exercise and supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from the locality. He restated that there will be two (2) Officers – Revision Officer (REVO) and Assistant Revision Officer (AREVO), at the Registration Area (RA). The REVO will issue forms to any person who wishes to raise either claims or objections. He or she should be able to speak the indigenous language of the locality, to function optimally and proficiently.

The Display of the PRV exercise will equally afford the Commission the opportunity to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to citizens who are yet to collect their cards, when they visit the display centres. He concluded his remarks by stating that the TOT was therefore a critical activity that required both AEOs and LGTOs to exhibit every sense of diligence and willingness to learn the technicalities and function professionally.

The occassion was graced by the Administrative Secretary of the State Alh Zakari Balarabe Musa and his entire HODs. The modules discussed in the training are:
1. Management of the claims and objection
2. Preparing and opening of the center
3. Materials for the exercise
4. Procedure for claims and objection
5. Display and hearing of claims and objection.

The training will continue at the LGA level on the 6th November, 2022, where the state Participants will train the REVOs and the AREVOs on how to conduct the upcoming display, claims and Objections.

Highlights of the Training:

The State Level Training of Trainers (ToT) on the display of Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) commenced today 4th November, 2022 at the Professor Mahmood Yakubu Hall, INEC Bauchi.

The DG TEI, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris during his opening remarks stressed that the State Level TOT was designed to sharpen skill sets, increase self-confidence and equip the AEOs and LGTOs to efficiently step down the training for the Revision Officers (REVOs) and the Assistant Revision Officers (AREVOs) at the LGA LEVEL. He emphasised that the Commission in its effort and commitment to doing everything possible to continue to raise the bar higher to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, needed to ensure that the Preliminary Register of Voters was sanitized as best as possible.

The DG noted that the Voter Registry Department in collaboration with the state offices will print the Register of Voters (2011 till date) for display at a Designated Centre in the Registration Area nationwide. Commission staff will then be used for the exercise and supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from the locality. He restated that there will be two (2) Officers – Revision Officer (REVO) and Assistant Revision Officer (AREVO), at the Registration Area (RA). The REVO will issue forms to any person who wishes to raise either claims or objections. He or she should be able to speak the indigenous language of the locality, to function optimally and proficiently.

The Display of the PRV exercise will equally afford the Commission the opportunity to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to citizens who are yet to collect their cards, when they visit the display centres. He concluded his remarks by stating that the TOT was therefore a critical activity that required both AEOs and LGTOs to exhibit every sense of diligence and willingness to learn the technicalities and function professionally.

The occassion was graced by the Administrative Secretary of the State Alh Zakari Balarabe Musa and his entire HODs. The modules discussed in the training are:
1. Management of the claims and objection
2. Preparing and opening of the center
3. Materials for the exercise
4. Procedure for claims and objection
5. Display and hearing of claims and objection.

The training will continue at the LGA level on the 6th November, 2022, where the state Participants will train the REVOs and the AREVOs on how to conduct the upcoming display, claims and Objections.

Highlights of the Training:

The Methodology Workshop organised by TEI commenced on August, 2022 and had in attendance the Chairman of the Board of the Electoral Institute (BEI), Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru and Director General of The Electoral Institute Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris, both ably represented by Deputy Director, Research and Documentation, Mr Slyvanus Yepe, while the REC Ekiti state Dr. Tella Adeniran Abdulrahman was represented by HOD VEP Ekiti, Mr Femi Akinbiyi. Also in attendance was Mrs Odebunmi Rolake, PRO;INEC Ekiti State and the Resource Person for the Workshop, Dr Mike Omilusi from Political Science Department, Ekiti State University.

In his good will message, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ekiti State said the issue of Vote Buying have been a recurring decimal in the conduct of elections in Nigeria in which Ekiti 2022 governorship election was not an exception. He asserted that the motive behind vote buying is for a candidate to have an advantage over other candidates in an election. To interrogate and proffer solutions to this challenge is the broad aim of workshop. Equally worrisome is voter apathy despite all the different strategies by the Commission and other Stakeholders to encourage mass voter participation by the Commission.

In his welcome address, the DG, TEI welcomed all participants and stressed the importance of the workshop drawing all participant’s attention to the President Muhammadu Buhari recent signing of the new Electoral Act 2022 into law. The Commission considers the Survey as very important more than ever before in order to align whatever data generated with the current innovations that are embedded in the Electoral Act 2022, to be the guiding statue for the Commission even beyond 2023.
To achieve this objective, Field workers or participants for the workshop have been carefully selected to receive proper training before being deployed to the various local government areas in the state to administer the instrument which will be analysed and a report be prepared with actionable recommendations.

The DG enjoined all participants to adopt the principles of professionalism and authenticity in the process of conducting the Survey. He also urged them to remember the ethics of scientific and empirical research and not to fabricate responses. The Commission desires that the challenge of voter apathy and vote buying will be drastically reduced if not eliminated, during the 2023 General Elections. It is therefore hoped that the findings from the Survey will guide the Commission in making effective policies and regulations.

The Chairman, BEI, in his Opening remarks, reiterated to participants that the Survey aimed to provide the Commission with yet another opportunity to examine and profer solutions to some of the problems encountered during the last concluded Ekiti Governorship Elections and to further strengthen some of its policies, processes and strategies for free, fair credible, inclusive, and peaceful 2023 General Elections. He pleaded with the participants to keep in mind that the Survey was about democratic and peaceful election in 2023 geared towards safeguarding the electoral process and delivery of fair, free credible, peaceful and inclusive election. He charged participants to conduct the Survey with the highest sense of integrity, credibility, and transparency. The Chairman BEI thereafter declared the workshop open.

The Resource Person, Dr Mike Omilusi put participants through the Survey instrument design and standardisation, methods and ethical issues. During his presentation, he emphasised the importance of the questionnaire and advised participants to administer the questionnaire to the actual voters that actually registered and have collected their PVCs. He advised them to be polite inorder to get exact information required. He stressed that the questionnaire should not be restricted to the literates only to provide the neccessary balance. He also advised the participants to always seek the consent of respondents and assure them of the confidentiality of their responses. The TEI ICT DO Ola Akogun put participants through the practical session on the Survey Platform and instrument administration before posting the Field Agents to their various Local Government Areas.

INTRODUCTION
In the build-up to the 2023 General Election, the Electoral Institute(TEI) organized a one-day Training-of-Trainers workshop at the Institute’s auditorium for Trainers that will be involved in the training for the Display of Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) Exercise for Claims and Objections that will hold immediately from 12th November, 2022, in line with Section 19 and 20 of the 2022 Electoral Act. The Trainers comprised of TEI Trainers, Trainers coopted from the Voter Registry Department as well as State Training Officers (STOs) and Assistant State Training Officers (ASTOs) who joined the ToT via ZOOM.
OPENING FORMALITIES
In his welcome remarks, the Director General of the Institute, Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris, stressed that the TOT was designed to sharpen skill sets, increase self-confidence and equip Trainers to efficiently step down the training for other election officials, especially the Revision Officers (REVOs) and the Assistant Revision Officers (AREVOs). He emphasised that the Commission in its effort and commitment to doing everything possible to continue to raise the bar higher to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, needed to ensure that the Preliminary Register of Voters was sanitized as best as possible.
The DG noted that the Voter Registry Department in collaboration with the state offices will print the Register of Voters (2011 till date) for display at a Designated Centre in the Registration Area nationwide. Commission staff will then be used for the exercise and supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from the locality. He restated that there will be two (2) Officers – Revision Officer (REVO) and Assistant Revision Officer (AREVO), as mentioned earlier, at the Registration Area. The REVO will issue forms to any person who wishes to raise either claims or objections. He or she should be able to speak the indigenous language of the locality, to function optimally and proficiently.

Dr. Idris also emphasised that the Display of the PRV exercise will equally afford the Commission the opportunity to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to citizens who are yet to collect their cards, when they visit the display centres. He concluded his remarks by stating that the TOT was therefore a critical activity that required both Trainers and Trainees to exhibit every sense of diligence and willingness to learn the technicalities and function professionally.

In his Opening Speech, the Chair, Board of the Electoral Institute (BEI), Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, represented by DG, TEI, reminded Trainers that the Electoral Act 2022 in Section 19, mandated the Commission to, not later than 90 days before a general election, appoint a period of seven days during which a copy of the voters’ register for each Local Government, Area Council or Ward shall be displayed or published for public scrutiny at every Registration Area and on its official website or any website established by the Commission for that purpose. He observed that registered citizens, therefore, had a dual mechanism by which they would verify their details in the voters register, as they could either visit the designated center in their Registration Area to check the accuracy of their details or visit the Commission’s website to also verify.
The Chair of BEI also observed that where errors, or inaccuracies existed, leading to a claim being made, or where an objection to the inclusion of a name in the register was to be raised, there existed the opportunity to do so at the period for hearing of Claims and Objections. The Chair, BEI emphasized that the display of the Register of Voters for scrutiny would hold for 7 days including Saturday, Sunday and Public holidays, after which, acceptance, consideration and hearing of claims and objections shall be for 14 days (7 days at INEC designated center at RA level and 7 days at LGA office). He also reminded participants of the dates for Claims and Objections at RA level, which was from 12th to 18th November, 2022 while LGA level will be from 19th to 25th November, 2022. He stressed that in short, there will be Twenty-One (21) days for the totality of the exercise.

The Chair BEI, before he declared the Training Open, strongly urged participants to take the training seriously and give it the utmost attention it deserved and also interrogate the process and all anticipated scenarios in the display exercise and in the period of Hearing of Claims and Objections.
Participants at the TOT were taken through various modules namely:
o Management of the Claims and Objections Process;
o Preparing and Opening the Claims and Objections Centre;
Claims and Objections Materials, Forms & Equipment; Display of PRV: Legal Provision
and Methods of Inspection of Claims & Objections, Handling of Claims and Objections, and
Electoral Offences and Penalties.
The TOT ended on a very high note as participants showed enthusiasm and readiness to cascade the training down to the state level. Participants were equally appreciative of the Commission for approving the training and giving participants a chance to be involved in the Voter register management process leading to the conduct of the 2023 General Election.
Highlights of the Training:

INTRODUCTION
In the build-up to the 2023 General Election, the Electoral Institute(TEI) organized a one-day Training-of-Trainers workshop at the Institute’s auditorium for Trainers that will be involved in the training for the Display of Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) Exercise for Claims and Objections that will hold immediately from 12th November, 2022, in line with Section 19 and 20 of the 2022 Electoral Act. The Trainers comprised of TEI Trainers, Trainers coopted from the Voter Registry Department as well as State Training Officers (STOs) and Assistant State Training Officers (ASTOs) who joined the ToT via ZOOM.
OPENING FORMALITIES
In his welcome remarks, the Director General of the Institute, Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris, stressed that the TOT was designed to sharpen skill sets, increase self-confidence and equip Trainers to efficiently step down the training for other election officials, especially the Revision Officers (REVOs) and the Assistant Revision Officers (AREVOs). He emphasised that the Commission in its effort and commitment to doing everything possible to continue to raise the bar higher to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, needed to ensure that the Preliminary Register of Voters was sanitized as best as possible.
The DG noted that the Voter Registry Department in collaboration with the state offices will print the Register of Voters (2011 till date) for display at a Designated Centre in the Registration Area nationwide. Commission staff will then be used for the exercise and supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from the locality. He restated that there will be two (2) Officers – Revision Officer (REVO) and Assistant Revision Officer (AREVO), as mentioned earlier, at the Registration Area. The REVO will issue forms to any person who wishes to raise either claims or objections. He or she should be able to speak the indigenous language of the locality, to function optimally and proficiently.

Dr. Idris also emphasised that the Display of the PRV exercise will equally afford the Commission the opportunity to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to citizens who are yet to collect their cards, when they visit the display centres. He concluded his remarks by stating that the TOT was therefore a critical activity that required both Trainers and Trainees to exhibit every sense of diligence and willingness to learn the technicalities and function professionally.

In his Opening Speech, the Chair, Board of the Electoral Institute (BEI), Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, represented by DG, TEI, reminded Trainers that the Electoral Act 2022 in Section 19, mandated the Commission to, not later than 90 days before a general election, appoint a period of seven days during which a copy of the voters’ register for each Local Government, Area Council or Ward shall be displayed or published for public scrutiny at every Registration Area and on its official website or any website established by the Commission for that purpose. He observed that registered citizens, therefore, had a dual mechanism by which they would verify their details in the voters register, as they could either visit the designated center in their Registration Area to check the accuracy of their details or visit the Commission’s website to also verify.
The Chair of BEI also observed that where errors, or inaccuracies existed, leading to a claim being made, or where an objection to the inclusion of a name in the register was to be raised, there existed the opportunity to do so at the period for hearing of Claims and Objections. The Chair, BEI emphasized that the display of the Register of Voters for scrutiny would hold for 7 days including Saturday, Sunday and Public holidays, after which, acceptance, consideration and hearing of claims and objections shall be for 14 days (7 days at INEC designated center at RA level and 7 days at LGA office). He also reminded participants of the dates for Claims and Objections at RA level, which was from 12th to 18th November, 2022 while LGA level will be from 19th to 25th November, 2022. He stressed that in short, there will be Twenty-One (21) days for the totality of the exercise.

The Chair BEI, before he declared the Training Open, strongly urged participants to take the training seriously and give it the utmost attention it deserved and also interrogate the process and all anticipated scenarios in the display exercise and in the period of Hearing of Claims and Objections.
Participants at the TOT were taken through various modules namely:
o Management of the Claims and Objections Process;
o Preparing and Opening the Claims and Objections Centre;
Claims and Objections Materials, Forms & Equipment; Display of PRV: Legal Provision
and Methods of Inspection of Claims & Objections, Handling of Claims and Objections, and
Electoral Offences and Penalties.
The TOT ended on a very high note as participants showed enthusiasm and readiness to cascade the training down to the state level. Participants were equally appreciative of the Commission for approving the training and giving participants a chance to be involved in the Voter register management process leading to the conduct of the 2023 General Election.
Highlights of the Training:

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said there is need for more robust lection security management as it prepares for the twenty twenty three General Elections.

Professor Abdullahi Zuru, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Board of The Electoral Institute said this in Keffi, Nasarawa State on Wednesday at the start of a three day Workshop on the Integration of Election Security into the Curricular of Training Schools of Security Agencies.

Professor Zuru in his opening address said the Commission has been addressing security challenges in a more coordinated manner in recent elections.
He however said some of the security challenges the Commission has been addressing seem to be recurring in spite of the cascaded training given to security personnel on election duty.

He expressed his hope that the Workshop is set to resolve this challenge by integrating election security into the curricular of training schools of security agencies who are members of the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security.

The Director General of The Electoral Institute Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris in his welcome address described election security as vital to democratic consolidation and growth of the electoral process.

He said
”Arising from the conduct of bye and rerun elections, in the aftermath of the 2019 General Elections, is the realisation that insecurity at elections can mar any election.
There is, therefore, need for security awareness among all cadres of election officials and stakeholders for elections to be rid of security problems which may ultimately culminate in the cancellation of elections or postponement of the elections in areas where there is a breach of the peace or disorderliness just as poor security management opens the elections to a host of risks.

The Commission, through The Electoral Institute (TEI), has institutionalised the development and implementation of a cascaded training of security personnel as a critical component of its training plan”.

He goes on to say reports on the reports on the conduct of security operatives during the General Elections and stand-alone Governorship Elections have shown progressive and commendable improvement in their disposition to electoral training.

”It is believed that the efficiency and effectiveness of security operatives at these Elections owe a lot to the Electoral Security Training conducted by The Electoral Institute (TEI) as reviewed by other critical stakeholders.
In a bid to consolidate on these gains, there is the need to domicile Electoral Security Training courses in the Training Schools of various security agencies who are members of ICCES for security personnel to proactively mitigate against security lapses that may result to electoral violence. The number of untrained Security personnel deployed for Election duty may pose a threat to gains made so far in securing the electoral process as less than 5% of security personnel are usually trained before an election due to funding and other logistic challenges”.

Dr. Said also said the workshop seeks to
”Achieve the development and infusion of courses on election security into the curricula of Training Departments/Institutes of various Security Agencies.
Empower Training Officials of Security Agencies with the requisite knowledge and ability to proficiently deliver training on election security matters.
Discuss ways and manners the Election Security Training can be embedded in the Curriculum of the Training Institute of the Nigerian Security Agencies, eg. National Institute for Security Studies, Police University, etc”.

He ended his address by saying:
however, without prejudice to the stated objectives, this workshop would afford us the opportunity to review the Security Training Manual for elections and the Handbook on Electoral Security for Security Personnel in preparation for the Ekiti State and Osun State Governorship elections scheduled to hold on the 18th of June 2022 and 16th July 2022 respectively as well as the 2023 general elections”.

Participants of the Workshop are drawn from the Police, the Civil Defence, the Department of State Services, the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Federal Fire Service and other security agencies

The Electoral Institute, in conjunction with IFES, is holding a 2-day Training on Data Visualization and Presentation for Research and Documentation staff.
The event is holding at Bolton White Hotel, Abuja.

The Training commenced today Thursday 24-25  March, 2022 and had in attendance at the Opening Ceremony,
the Chair, BEI, Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, Director-General of the Electoral Institute, Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris, Director Research and Documentation, Dr Ibrahim Sani, Director Training, Dr Binta Kasim Muhd and the IFES Deputy Country Director,  Mr Obaje Ukeh.

In his welcome address, the DG, TEI, welcomed all the participants to the training and emphasized on the importance and significance of  data Visualization and Presentation to Research, and how it enables decision makers in organisations like the Independent National Electoral Commission to interrelate the data to find better insights and reap the importance of data Visualization.

The Chair, BEI in his opening remarks ,urged participants to pay rapt attention to the resource persons as they take them through rudiments of data Visualization. The Chair BEI urged the training participants to understand that the Commission expect the Department to design appropriate instruments that interrogate the interests, perceptions, views and expectations of the electorates on the Commission activities and processes and come up with not only appropriate responses, but also graphic means of communicating the responses so that they do not only HEAR but also SEE the point of view of the Commission. He reiterated that since seeing is believing, then there has to be a commensurate intellectual depiction of the explanations of what the Commission does and the viewpoints of the electorates about the commission and it’s activities. Using the advantage of the newly created additional polling Units across the country as an example, He explained that participants are not only to tell the Commission why, but also how to get the electorate to take advantage of the offer. This requires the designing of appropriate instruments that generate qualitative and quantitative data about the reasons why people are not taking advantage and how to make them take advantage; analyzing the data to comprehend the possible reasons for not utilizing the given advantage and how that could be achieved; devising better options for communicating the policy and implementation options to the Commission; and most appropriate means of communicating the policy and implementation options to the Electorate for their buy-in. All these depended largely on
effective usage of the skills acquired today.

Below are highlights of the Training:

A Team from the Center for Forensic Programmes and DNA Studies (CEFPADS) University of Benin visited The Electoral Institute, INEC on Thursday 14th April, 2022.

The Director CEFPADS, University of Benin, Prof. Edeaghe Ehikhamenor, and other members of the team were received by the DG, TEI and other Management Staff of the Institute. The Team were in TEI to explore areas of collaboration between TEI, INEC and CEFPADS of the University of Benin in the application of Forensic Science into the Electoral process.

In his welcome remarks, the DG, TEI welcomed the visiting team  and applauded the achievements of the center. He described the visit as a major solid step taken in the right direction and hoped that a framework would be developed after the meeting to highlight what can be done and areas of collaboration especially in the application of Forensic Science to mitigate Vote buying and other challenges in the electoral process.

The Director of the Centre after introducing members of his team appreciated the DG receiving the team. The Director expressed apologies on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Lillian Salami who had to attend to urgent matters and was unavoidably absent at the meeting. He stated further that INEC and CEFPADS can collaborate at three levels: Pre- Election which involves setting up of a forensic document examination verification and screening unit where  certificates and documents of candidates of Political parties would be subjected to forensic analysis.

During election where Biometric technology could be combined with forensics to identify the fingerprint of criminal voters and Post election where forensics can be applied to recruitment process to weed off persons who abuse drugs and also to reduce cases of litigation in the Courts.

The Director of the center during the interactive session fielded questions from Directors and other staff of the Institute.

The DG thereafter thanked the team for the visit and promised to present the issues discussed to the Board of the Institute and the Commission for further neccessary directives so as to forge a way forward in the collaborative effort at achieving good governance.

The Director of the center had on his team, Mr. Benos Imoisili

Mrs. Paulyn Imoisili and Cynthia Eduloje.

Some highlights of the visit below:

The Training was organized by the Electoral Institute (TEI) in collaboration with the ICT Department with the objective that at the end of the training, participants should effectively operate the BVAS, have the capacity to upload election result on INEC Result portal using INEC Results Viewing Device (IREV) and Coordinate all training activities in line with the 2022 Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of Elections.

Addressing the participants, the DG, TEI Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris, urged the participants to take the assignment as a National Service that requires selflessness, commitment and diligence. In his words “Technology has come to stay in the electoral process with the introduction of BVAS, certainly the human interfererence would be drastically reduced”. The DG further admonished participants to focus on the training as it was designed to galvanize their skills to further enhance the credibility of the Electoral process in Nigeria.

The National Commissioner and Chair BEI, Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, represented by the DG, TEI, while declaring the training open, tasked participants to be good ambassadors of the Commission as they represent the Commission while discharging their duties as Trainers and RATECHs before, during and after the elections at the various Local Government Areas.
He thereafter encouraged the participants to be on top of their game. He appreciated the effort put together by TEI in collaboration with the ICT department to train it’s staff on the processes and procedures of Election with emphasis on the newly introduced Technology driven initiatives.

Mr. Amah Ibom who represented the Director, ICT, Mr. Chidi Nwafor underscored the importance of the training as it is expected to ensure that accreditation of Voters at the forthcoming election is hitch free.

Directors Training, Ag. AS, TEI and other Management staff of TEI and collaborating departments were in attendance at the training. Participants at the training include Headquarters Staff, TEI trainers as well as Local Government Training Officers (LGTOs) of Ekiti State who attended virtually.

Highlights of the Training:

The Electoral Institute (TEI) in collaboration with IFES organized a 3 days Workshop on the Review of Election Security Personnel Training Manual and Handbook in preparation for 2023 GE. The workshop commenced on the 9th August, 2022 at BON Hotel, Kano State.

In his opening remarks National Commissioner and Chairman of the Board of the Electoral Institute, Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru underscored the importance of the Review Workshop in the light of the prevailing security challenges in the country and the Commission’s effort to conduct elections under the circumstance.

The Chairman BEI while thanking IFES for funding the workshop urged participants to do justice to the given task to guarantee quality training delivery for security personnel in preparation for the 2023 General Elections.

The Director General of The Electoral Institute Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris in his welcome address described election security as vital to democratic consolidation and growth of the electoral process.

He reiterated the aim of the review Workshop which is to synthesize and improve on the existing Manual and Handbook for the training of Election Security Personnel to establish in-depth understanding of the field of Electoral Security, establish familiarity with the content and consequently attain mastery of the subject matter for quality delivery of Election Security Training as the commission prepares to conduct the 2023 General elections. He expressed confidence that participants would achieve the objective of the Workshop.

Goodwill messages were delivered by The Hon. REC INEC Kano State, Professor Shehu Riskuwa and the Country Director, IFES Mr Seray Jah.

The Hon. REC Niger State, Prof. Sam Egwu who moderated the workshop emphasized the need to develop a pocket size and concise handbook for Security Personnel on election duty.

Participants at the Workshop are drawn from IFES, Management and Staff of Training Department, TEI led by the Director, Training Dr. Binta Mohammed Kasim.
Highlights of the Training:

The Methodology Workshop organised by TEI commenced on August, 2022 and had in attendance the Chairman of the Board of the Electoral Institute (BEI), Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru and Director General of The Electoral Institute Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris, both ably represented by Deputy Director, Research and Documentation, Mr Slyvanus Yepe, while the REC Ekiti state Dr. Tella Adeniran Abdulrahman was represented by HOD VEP Ekiti, Mr Femi Akinbiyi. Also in attendance was Mrs Odebunmi Rolake, PRO;INEC Ekiti State and the Resource Person for the Workshop, Dr Mike Omilusi from Political Science Department, Ekiti State University.

In his good will message, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ekiti State said the issue of Vote Buying have been a recurring decimal in the conduct of elections in Nigeria in which Ekiti 2022 governorship election was not an exception. He asserted that the motive behind vote buying is for a candidate to have an advantage over other candidates in an election. To interrogate and proffer solutions to this challenge is the broad aim of workshop. Equally worrisome is voter apathy despite all the different strategies by the Commission and other Stakeholders to encourage mass voter participation by the Commission.

In his welcome address, the DG, TEI welcomed all participants and stressed the importance of the workshop drawing all participant’s attention to the President Muhammadu Buhari recent signing of the new Electoral Act 2022 into law. The Commission considers the Survey as very important more than ever before in order to align whatever data generated with the current innovations that are embedded in the Electoral Act 2022, to be the guiding statue for the Commission even beyond 2023.
To achieve this objective, Field workers or participants for the workshop have been carefully selected to receive proper training before being deployed to the various local government areas in the state to administer the instrument which will be analysed and a report be prepared with actionable recommendations.

The DG enjoined all participants to adopt the principles of professionalism and authenticity in the process of conducting the Survey. He also urged them to remember the ethics of scientific and empirical research and not to fabricate responses. The Commission desires that the challenge of voter apathy and vote buying will be drastically reduced if not eliminated, during the 2023 General Elections. It is therefore hoped that the findings from the Survey will guide the Commission in making effective policies and regulations.

The Chairman, BEI, in his Opening remarks, reiterated to participants that the Survey aimed to provide the Commission with yet another opportunity to examine and profer solutions to some of the problems encountered during the last concluded Ekiti Governorship Elections and to further strengthen some of its policies, processes and strategies for free, fair credible, inclusive, and peaceful 2023 General Elections. He pleaded with the participants to keep in mind that the Survey was about democratic and peaceful election in 2023 geared towards safeguarding the electoral process and delivery of fair, free credible, peaceful and inclusive election. He charged participants to conduct the Survey with the highest sense of integrity, credibility, and transparency. The Chairman BEI thereafter declared the workshop open.

The Resource Person, Dr Mike Omilusi put participants through the Survey instrument design and standardisation, methods and ethical issues. During his presentation, he emphasised the importance of the questionnaire and advised participants to administer the questionnaire to the actual voters that actually registered and have collected their PVCs. He advised them to be polite inorder to get exact information required. He stressed that the questionnaire should not be restricted to the literates only to provide the neccessary balance. He also advised the participants to always seek the consent of respondents and assure them of the confidentiality of their responses. The TEI ICT DO Ola Akogun put participants through the practical session on the Survey Platform and instrument administration before posting the Field Agents to their various Local Government Areas.

The 7th Annual African Union (AU) Continental Forum of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) kicked off today Monday, 16th November, 2022 in Maputo, Mozambique. The forum was jointly organised by the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (DPAPS) of the African Union Commission in collaboration with the Association of African Electoral Authorities (AAEA). The purpose of the forum, which is made up of convening chairpersons and other senior officials of EMBs from the AU Member States, is to chart innovative policy pathways and actionable measures for safeguarding the management of credible, peaceful and democratic electoral processes on the African Continent. The forum was declared open by H.E Adriano Afonso Maleiane, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mozambique

The different sessions at the forum focus on the following themes/issues:
Session 1: OFFICIAL OPENING
Session 2: Diagnosing the Challenges of EMBs Resilience in Africa at which
the various external and internal multi-faceted threats presently confronting EMBs in the increasingly complex political, socio-cultural, economic, technological, ecological and security context of the continent of Africa, will be deliberated upon.

Session 3 focusing on Confronting the Problem of High Turnover of EMB Leadership in Africa at which, the problem of high rate of turnover of EMB officials will be analysed with a view to explore remedial responses in a bid to safeguard of EMBs.

In Session 4: the focus is on Promoting Gender in EMB Leadership: Experiences of Women Chairpersons of EMBs in Africa
The session is motivated by the observation that the place of women leaders in EMBs in Africa has received limited policy and research attention in democracy building on the continent. This session therefore explores the lived experiences of women chairpersons of EMBs in a bid to harness lessons towards developing engendered resilience in overcoming socio-cultural, institutional, legal and political barriers in managing elections that meet international and continental norms and standards.

SESSION 5: Exploring Strategies for Sustainable Funding of EMBs and Cost-effective Election Management seeks to deliberate on how EMBs can adaptively secure sustainable funding to manage elections as resources continue to shrink. The session recognises that the continent of Africa is reeling from double tragedy of COVID-19 pandemic and the negative effects of Ukraine-Russia war which have resulted in shrinking economies. In addition, the session debates on how EMBs can develop cost-effective election management strategies in order to mitigate the increasing cost of elections.

SESSION 6 focuses on Sustainable Risk-Mitigation Strategies for Addressing Ecological Impact on Election Management.
In recognising that elections in Africa have been organized during pandemics such as COVID-19 and Ebola as well as natural disasters such as floods in a number of contexts, the session seeks to develop capacities to confront future ecological risks in organizing elections that meet international and continental standards. The session will also explore lessons from case studies to harness strategies for building resilience of EMBs in against ecological risks to election management.

SESSION 7 with the theme Addressing Electoral Security and Cyber-Security Threats to Electoral Integrity in Africa will explore Violent extremism as well as cyber-attacks which transcend national borders as they have become emerging challenges to electoral security. This is with a view to devising concerted long-term strategies for securing electoral processes in Africa.

SESSION 8: The theme for the last session is Let’s Talk Elections 2023: Exploring Challenges and Strategies for Fostering Resilience in Election Management.
The forum recognised that at least 14 elections are scheduled to take place in the year 2023 on the continent of Africa. Currently, some of the EMBs planning for elections in 2023, including INEC Nigeria are confronted with resilience challenges which could impact on their operational and institutional capacity to effectively manage the elections that meet international and continental normative standards. This session will therefore highlight some of the issues ahead in selected countries, including Nigeria, with a view to harnessing strategies for enhancing EMB resilience. The session will offer opportunities to demonstrate African resilience in election management for the 2023 elections.

My discussion Paper titled Building Resilience of Election Management Bodies to Safeguarding Democracy in Africa: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Nigeria Experience will highlight some of the things INEC is doing to build resilience, namely:
 The Institutionalisation of Electoral Risk Management.
 Real and Potential Electoral Threats and Risks Towards the 2023 General Election.
 Mitigation of Risks and Threats to the 2023 General Election.
 Introduction of Technology into Elections Operations to Improve Election Administration.
 Lessons Learned from Conducting Elections during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 Fighting Election-Related Misinformation, Disinformation, Incitement and Fake News Surrounding Elections.
 Improving the Electoral Laws.
 Maintaining Non-Partisanship and Professionalism.
 Training and Retraining/ Building Capacity for Staff of the Commission.
 Challenges to Building Resilience: Political Party Actions.
 Challenges to Building Resilience: Insecurity and/or terrorism and banditry in some parts of Nigeria.
 Challenges to Building Resilience: Compromising Role of Some Adhoc Staff During Elections.
 Challenge of the Potential Threat Posed by Cyber Insecurity on the Electronic Transmission of Results and other Election Technologies.
 Challenge of Inadequate and Scarce Resources.

Some highlights of the Event:

As part of its Post Election activities, R & D Dept, TEI held the above Round Table on the INCIDENCE OF VOTE BUYING/VOTE TRADING on 11th August, 2022.

The event graced by the Chair BEI Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru ably represented by the Hon REC Osun State, Prof Raji Abdulganiy. Mrs Ayo Obe Esq, a renowed Nigeria Lawyer and Human Rights Activist served as Lead Speaker with Dr. Tella Adeniran REC; Ekiti state and Dr. Hakeem Olatunji Tijani of Political and Government Policy Department (NISER) Ibadan, Oyo State serving as Discussants. The Occasion was also graced by the esteemed presence of the DG TEI, Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris who represented by DD R&D Mr Sylvanus Yepe. Also in attendance is Chairman, IPAC Osun State, HODs; INEC Osun, CSOs, Heads of Religious Organisations and other critical stakeholders.

In his welcome remarks, the DG TEI Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris informed Participants that the Round Table was the Second time the Institute was organising a roundtable on the topic, the first being in December, 2018 where the TEI was privileged to have had Mrs Ayo Obe, Esq as the Resource person/Speaker. He further explained that the Round Table Series was an essential part of the Commission’s deliberate commitment to a continuous engagement with it’s critical Stakeholders on issues central to elections, electoral process and democratic consolidation.

On his part, the Chairman BEI Prof Abdullahi Abdu Zuru in his opening address, welcomed all to the event and conveyed the greetings and goodwill from the Hon Chairman of the Commission Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, the Commission Members, and the entire Staff of the Commission.

Prof Zuru said though, the Commission’s performances at the Ekiti and Osun States just concluded Governorship Elections were largely successful, applauded, and considered free, fair, credible and inclusive by all Stakeholders, nevertheless, that did not mean that the Commission is not worried over nagging issues particularly Vote Buying and Vote Trading which manifested during those elections, which INEC needed to work out solutions in order to achieve optimal performance on the electoral process as the Commission prepares for 2023 General Elections.

Additionally, he informed the participants that the newly signed Electoral Act, 2022 by Mr. President have also strengthened INEC’s capacity to deliver free, fair, credible and inclusive elections. Thus, inputs from the Round Table would help INEC conduct 2023 General Elections without reoccurrence of vote buying and its elimination. The Chair, BEI therefore, stated that the RoundTable with the caliber of the Participants in attendance will provide answers to the following questions and many others:
– What is Vote-buying/Vote-trading?
– How did it manifest itself in Ekiti and Osun states?
– Who were those involved?
– How did it affect the psyche of Ekiti and Osun people?
– What are the implications on our democracy in Nigeria?
– How do we prevent reoccurrence in the conduct of future elections in Nigeria?
He concluded by thanking the Resource person and Discussants for accepting to be part of the important discussion and wished them fruitful deliberations. On that note, he declared the Round Table opened.

The lead speaker, Mrs Ayo Obe, Esq, in her presentation noted that she spoke on this topic extensively after the 2019 General Elections and today she was speaking on the same topic Vote-Buying, but this time specifically on the recently concluded off cycle Governorship Elections in Ekiti and Osun States on one hand and on the other its implications for 2023 General Elections for Democratic consolidation in Nigeria.
However, she said it was tempting to just dust off her 2018 paper and brought up to date for example, the Electoral Act of 2022. However, she noted its well beyond that as the same problem faced years ago during elections was even more visible today. She premised her actionale recommendations on two pieces of advice:
– to make vote buying and selling less costly and attractive, Government should ensure that those involved in vote buying and selling were prosecuted and publicised any convictions and sentences.
– there is strength in number of Voters. She opined that the genuine voters should be encouraged to come out to vote, so that vote buyers will not be able to have their way in affecting the outcome of election results.

She pointed out that many of the issues she highlighted some 4 years ago were still relevant today and it was necessary to consider what she said then and in view of that would be looking at them if there have been any progress in the last 4 years and try to identify where we needed to do more work to ensure that Nigeria’s Democracy is further consolidated through elimination of Vote buying and selling.

Highlights of the Events:

The TEI Executive Management Staff led by the DG, received the Team of Conveners of the National Electorates Awareness Conference who paid a courtesy call on the DG, TEI. The team of Conveners was led by its project Coordinator, Khadijat Sanusi Gumbi.
The Spokesperson for the team, Amb. Olubunmi Fagbayimo in stating the mission of the team said the team was at the Electoral Institute (TEI) to discuss strategic ideas that will lead to collaboration with the Institute in the organisation of the planned National Electorates Awareness Conference (NEAC). He said that NEAC was aimed at massively sensitizing Nigerian electorates in a very creative and unique way about their rights to vote, understanding basic electoral laws and simplifying the recent amendments in the electoral law to help the common man understand the grey areas. He said that the major goal of the conference was to contribute to peaceful growth and oneness in the country prior to the conduct of the 2023 General Election and even thereafter.
He further said that the aim of the Conference was to create awareness to the electorate through a conference. He said the conference would bring groups and associations together, enlighten them on all the necessary information, with the aim that they would thereafter disseminate all that have been learnt to their members in the grassroots. He announced that the key areas in which the team was seeking collaboration with TEI were in the areas of financial partnership and Technical Partnership.
Other members of the group also elaborated further on the purpose of the Conference by saying it would address voter apathy, encourage the development of awareness through social media campaigns.
The DG, TEI Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris in responding informed the Team that though the Commission’s Voter Education and Publicity (VEP) Department had the main responsibility of sensitization of the public on every electoral matter, the Institute was available to partner with the Team as its core objectives for the conference were also in tandem with the Institute’s purpose, i.e. Training of Stakeholders. He stressed that stakeholders still had a lot to learn and be aware of before the conduct of the 2023 General Election. He particularly observed that voter apathy was very rampant in spite of the access to polling units the Commission had created by the increase in the number of polling units nationwide. He equally stressed that voters still ought to be informed about the technological innovations introduced into voting and election result management.
The DG, TEI assured the visiting Team that he would assist to market the proposed conference to Development Partners whose key objectives include voter sensitization. He advised the NEAC Team to also shop for funding from credible sources. He also promised the availability of the Institute’s facilities (Auditorium and Virtual Library) for use during the conference.
The Team was further advised by other Management Staff to harness the proposal for the conference in the format that Development Partners would easily buy into it. The Institute’s management observed that the proposal’s objectives, methodology, expected outcomes and cost implication should be clearly indicated in the proposal.
The visitors comprised the following:
1) Khadijat Sanusi Gumbi
2) Olubunmi Dayo Fagbayimo
3) Suleimanu Usman Yusuf
4) Mohammed Umar Dankura
5) Maryam Aliman
6) Ojochernemi Bekeboh

The Team was again assured of the readiness of the Institute to support the Conference it any way it could as the meeting ended. The Directors, Training and Research & Documentation were also present at the meeting.
Forwarded below are pictures taken at the visit.
Ag. AS

As part of its Post Election activities, R & D Dept, TEI held the above Round Table on the INCIDENCE OF VOTE BUYING/VOTE TRADING on 11th August, 2022.

The event graced by the Chair BEI Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru ably represented by the Hon REC Osun State, Prof Raji Abdulganiy. Mrs Ayo Obe Esq, a renowed Nigeria Lawyer and Human Rights Activist served as Lead Speaker with Dr. Tella Adeniran REC; Ekiti state and Dr. Hakeem Olatunji Tijani of Political and Government Policy Department (NISER) Ibadan, Oyo State serving as Discussants. The Occasion was also graced by the esteemed presence of the DG TEI, Dr Sa’ad Umar Idris who represented by DD R&D Mr Sylvanus Yepe. Also in attendance is Chairman, IPAC Osun State, HODs; INEC Osun, CSOs, Heads of Religious Organisations and other critical stakeholders.

In his welcome remarks, the DG TEI Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris informed Participants that the Round Table was the Second time the Institute was organising a roundtable on the topic, the first being in December, 2018 where the TEI was privileged to have had Mrs Ayo Obe, Esq as the Resource person/Speaker. He further explained that the Round Table Series was an essential part of the Commission’s deliberate commitment to a continuous engagement with it’s critical Stakeholders on issues central to elections, electoral process and democratic consolidation.

On his part, the Chairman BEI Prof Abdullahi Abdu Zuru in his opening address, welcomed all to the event and conveyed the greetings and goodwill from the Hon Chairman of the Commission Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, the Commission Members, and the entire Staff of the Commission.

Prof Zuru said though, the Commission’s performances at the Ekiti and Osun States just concluded Governorship Elections were largely successful, applauded, and considered free, fair, credible and inclusive by all Stakeholders, nevertheless, that did not mean that the Commission is not worried over nagging issues particularly Vote Buying and Vote Trading which manifested during those elections, which INEC needed to work out solutions in order to achieve optimal performance on the electoral process as the Commission prepares for 2023 General Elections.

Additionally, he informed the participants that the newly signed Electoral Act, 2022 by Mr. President have also strengthened INEC’s capacity to deliver free, fair, credible and inclusive elections. Thus, inputs from the Round Table would help INEC conduct 2023 General Elections without reoccurrence of vote buying and its elimination. The Chair, BEI therefore, stated that the RoundTable with the caliber of the Participants in attendance will provide answers to the following questions and many others:
– What is Vote-buying/Vote-trading?
– How did it manifest itself in Ekiti and Osun states?
– Who were those involved?
– How did it affect the psyche of Ekiti and Osun people?
– What are the implications on our democracy in Nigeria?
– How do we prevent reoccurrence in the conduct of future elections in Nigeria?
He concluded by thanking the Resource person and Discussants for accepting to be part of the important discussion and wished them fruitful deliberations. On that note, he declared the Round Table opened.

The lead speaker, Mrs Ayo Obe, Esq, in her presentation noted that she spoke on this topic extensively after the 2019 General Elections and today she was speaking on the same topic Vote-Buying, but this time specifically on the recently concluded off cycle Governorship Elections in Ekiti and Osun States on one hand and on the other its implications for 2023 General Elections for Democratic consolidation in Nigeria.
However, she said it was tempting to just dust off her 2018 paper and brought up to date for example, the Electoral Act of 2022. However, she noted its well beyond that as the same problem faced years ago during elections was even more visible today. She premised her actionale recommendations on two pieces of advice:
– to make vote buying and selling less costly and attractive, Government should ensure that those involved in vote buying and selling were prosecuted and publicised any convictions and sentences.
– there is strength in number of Voters. She opined that the genuine voters should be encouraged to come out to vote, so that vote buyers will not be able to have their way in affecting the outcome of election results.

She pointed out that many of the issues she highlighted some 4 years ago were still relevant today and it was necessary to consider what she said then and in view of that would be looking at them if there have been any progress in the last 4 years and try to identify where we needed to do more work to ensure that Nigeria’s Democracy is further consolidated through elimination of Vote buying and selling.

Highlights of the Events:

The DG TEI, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris during his opening remarks stressed that the State Level TOT was designed to sharpen skill sets, increase self-confidence and equip the AEOs and LGTOs to efficiently step down the training for the Revision Officers (REVOs) and the Assistant Revision Officers (AREVOs) at the LGA LEVEL. He emphasised that the Commission in its effort and commitment to doing everything possible to continue to raise the bar higher to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, needed to ensure that the Preliminary Register of Voters was sanitized as best as possible.

The DG noted that the Voter Registry Department in collaboration with the state offices will print the Register of Voters (2011 till date) for display at a Designated Centre in the Registration Area nationwide. Commission staff will then be used for the exercise and supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from the locality. He restated that there will be two (2) Officers – Revision Officer (REVO) and Assistant Revision Officer (AREVO), at the Registration Area (RA). The REVO will issue forms to any person who wishes to raise either claims or objections. He or she should be able to speak the indigenous language of the locality, to function optimally and proficiently.

The Display of the PRV exercise will equally afford the Commission the opportunity to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to citizens who are yet to collect their cards, when they visit the display centres. He concluded his remarks by stating that the TOT was therefore a critical activity that required both AEOs and LGTOs to exhibit every sense of diligence and willingness to learn the technicalities and function professionally.

The occassion was graced by the Administrative Secretary of the State Alh Zakari Balarabe Musa and his entire HODs. The modules discussed in the training are:
1. Management of the claims and objection
2. Preparing and opening of the center
3. Materials for the exercise
4. Procedure for claims and objection
5. Display and hearing of claims and objection.

The training will continue at the LGA level on the 6th November, 2022, where the state Participants will train the REVOs and the AREVOs on how to conduct the upcoming display, claims and Objections.

Highlights of the Training:

The State Level Training of Trainers (ToT) on the display of Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) commenced today 4th November, 2022 at the Professor Mahmood Yakubu Hall, INEC Bauchi.

The DG TEI, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris during his opening remarks stressed that the State Level TOT was designed to sharpen skill sets, increase self-confidence and equip the AEOs and LGTOs to efficiently step down the training for the Revision Officers (REVOs) and the Assistant Revision Officers (AREVOs) at the LGA LEVEL. He emphasised that the Commission in its effort and commitment to doing everything possible to continue to raise the bar higher to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, needed to ensure that the Preliminary Register of Voters was sanitized as best as possible.

The DG noted that the Voter Registry Department in collaboration with the state offices will print the Register of Voters (2011 till date) for display at a Designated Centre in the Registration Area nationwide. Commission staff will then be used for the exercise and supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members from the locality. He restated that there will be two (2) Officers – Revision Officer (REVO) and Assistant Revision Officer (AREVO), at the Registration Area (RA). The REVO will issue forms to any person who wishes to raise either claims or objections. He or she should be able to speak the indigenous language of the locality, to function optimally and proficiently.

The Display of the PRV exercise will equally afford the Commission the opportunity to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to citizens who are yet to collect their cards, when they visit the display centres. He concluded his remarks by stating that the TOT was therefore a critical activity that required both AEOs and LGTOs to exhibit every sense of diligence and willingness to learn the technicalities and function professionally.

The occassion was graced by the Administrative Secretary of the State Alh Zakari Balarabe Musa and his entire HODs. The modules discussed in the training are:
1. Management of the claims and objection
2. Preparing and opening of the center
3. Materials for the exercise
4. Procedure for claims and objection
5. Display and hearing of claims and objection.

The training will continue at the LGA level on the 6th November, 2022, where the state Participants will train the REVOs and the AREVOs on how to conduct the upcoming display, claims and Objections.

Highlights of the Training: