The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is planning to introduce an online training and certification programme for persons that will be enlisted as ad hoc staff in future elections, according to the Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega.
This programme, which is to be conducted by The Electoral Institute (TEI), a training and research agency of INEC, is part of concerted efforts to professionalize electoral duties and, thereby, enhance the integrity of elections in Nigeria.
Professor Jega said when the programme comes on stream, those with such certification will stand a better chance of being recruited as ad hoc staff in future elections.
The INEC chairman spoke as a presenter at one of the Plenary Sessions of the Sixth GEO (Global Electoral Organisation) Conference in Incheon, South Korea. The four-day conference, which drew participants from 90 member-countries and 94 organisations, including Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), ended at the weekend.
Professor Jega said inadequacy or lack of professional cadre of electoral officials is one of the major challenges confronting an Election Management Body in a transition to democracy. “Faced with this particular challenge, an EMB may do one, some or all of the following: Recruitment to regenerate staff, training and retraining, specialized skills provisioning, restructuring and reorganization.”
According to him, there are enormous challenges of capacity building and professionalization of staff. It is to address these challenges, he said, that the Commission has repositioned The Electoral Institute to be an excellent resource centre for research and training of electoral staff – not only for INEC, but also for State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) and other EMBs in the West African sub-region.
“We are also drawing lessons from other EMBs and especially countries with existing Institutes such as India, Mexico and South Africa. Additionally, we are establishing or strengthening partnerships with local academic institutions, as well as international organizations, to leverage existing resources for capacity building and professional development of INEC’s staff,” he added.
Also speaking as a Plenary Session presenter at the GEO Conference, the Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Election Commission of India, Akshay Rout, said the integrity of elections derives from a combination of political will and professional competence of the staff of an EMB.
At another Plenary Session, the Director of Electoral Programs, National Democratic Institute (NDI), Pat Merloe, lauded INEC for “showing the way” in the deployment of social media platforms for citizens engagement as well as voter and civic education.
There were more than 400 participants, including chairpersons of EMBs from across the globe, at the GEO Conference, which was preceded by the inaugural assembly of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).
