ķThe Independent National Electoral Commission has began the training of 82 Registration Area Technical Support (RATECH) officials drawn from INEC offices nationwide in order to train more officials at zonal level to cover all the 8,809 Registration Areas (or Wards). In turn, these officials will be involved in the training ad hoc staff for the 176,846 Polling Units nationwide.
Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission Professor Mahmood Yakubu made this known on Tuesday at the opening of train-the-trainers workshop, Training of Master Trainers on Technologies for the 2023 General Elections on technology in Abuja.
Professor Yakubu in his opening remarks noted that, the training from the outset is one of the most important training activities ahead of the 2023 General Election, and for the next three days, they will will form the nucleus of the training to receive intensive hands-on training on the new technology.
He urged the 82 staff involved to pay special attention to the training as theirr role as master trainers is critical to the success of training at subsequent levels and ultimately the successful deployment of the devices during elections.
"For this reason, the Commission will not accept laxity on your part. Much as we have confidence in your ability to understand and discharge your responsibilities to the officials you will subsequently train, there will be consequences for unethical behaviour or any act of misconduct. I wish you a successful training.", he noted.
In her goodwill message, Director, IFES/Nigeria Seray Jah said, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) thanked INEC for its collaboration and openness to receive such support over these past years and for the partnership of an Training of Master Trainers on Technologies for the 2023 General Elections.
Jah said, the training would help the Commission to generate a pool of master trainers that will support the cascade training of over 10, 000 technical support staff across the 36 states and the FCT, for the 2023 General elections.
"The skills gathered here by the master trainers who have been carefully selected by the Commission would be useful in training the Registration Area Technical Support Staff (RATechSS) who will be deployed during the elections to troubleshoot issues arising from technological devices deployed during the 2023 General elections," he said.
The Training of Master Trainers on Technologies for the 2023 General Elections was sponsored by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and INEC and the Country Director Mr. Seray Jah.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman Board of Electoral Institute, Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru commended the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) and INES Chairman flew back into the country on Sunday, 16" October, 2022, spent the whole of yesterday, Monday, October 17, 2022 in the Office and is here today for this training. "This attests to the premium he attaches to enhancing the technical, managerial and organizational capacities of all categories of electoral officials for the 2023 General Election", he said.
Prof Abdu Zuru said, the training is of utmost significance as it further builds capacity as the Commission’s Master Trainers who coordinate training at strategic levels, thereby enhancing the credibility and integrity of the electoral process. Particularly significant are the Electronic Voters Register (EVR), Permanent Voters Card (PVC), Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC .
SpyeTV News reports that, over the last two years, the Commission has increased the deployment of technology in the elections in Nigeria. Systems and portals have been designed and developed to cater for different electoral activities ranging from voter registration and accreditation, result transmission from the polling units, the nomination of candidates by political parties to the accreditation of polling agents, observers and journalists for elections.
Of these innovations, most Nigerians are more familiar with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which doubles as a device for accreditation as well as the upload of the Polling Unit level result sheets to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time on election day.
These innovations have increased transparency and public confidence in the electoral process. They are also part of the legal requirements for conducting elections in Nigeria. The combination of the BVAS and the IReV portal have come to stay as a means of voter accreditation and transmission of election results.
