INEC Organises Capacity-Building Workshop On Voter Education In Adamawa

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  has engaged eligible voters in Adamawa State on a one-day capacity-building workshop for voter education providers preparatory to the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
Addressing participants in Yola, Monday, Administrative Secretary of the commission, Alhaji Jamil Elyakub, said the essence of the workshop was to expose them to the imperative of voter education.
He said this was especially on voting procedure, when to vote, why to vore  and where to vote.
“This workshop was organized in collaboration with the United States Development Programmer (UNDP),” he said.
According to him, the exercise, organised in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), was a zonal event which comprised 100 participants drawn from INEC, media organisations and civil society groups
He added that the participants were carefully selected  across the six northeast states of Bauchi, Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Taraba and Gombe.
Elyakub explained that appropriate voter education ensured free, fair and credible elections, stating that INEC, as an electoral umpire, was fully committed and determined to conduct free and fair elections by 2023.
He called on  the participants to concentrate on what they would be taught during the exercise, to take the message to the electorate with all sense of accuracy and determination towards the conduct of transparent elections.
“Section 153 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, has bestowed the power of voter education on INEC, so also the Electoral Act 2022,” he added.
He appealed for inclusion of voter education in Nigeria’s education curriculum while calling on the media to make the best use of their outfits in sensitising the electorate to voter education.
The UNDP Team Lead, Governance, Peace and Security, Mathew Alao, assured that UNDP would continue to support institutionalisation of democratic governance in Nigeria.

Alao commended INEC for the efforts in ensuring credible elections come next year, in particular for the workshop, especially considering that  2023 was fast approaching.

He said that 95 million Nigerians were expected to vote during the 2023 general elections hence the need for proper voter education, saying “an educated electorate was the bedrock for democracy and the  rule of law”.