NIGERIA: INEC Begins Training Of Trainers For Nationwide Voter Revalidation Exercise

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop in preparation for the nationwide Voter Revalidation Exercise scheduled to begin on April 13.

The workshop, which took place on Monday at The Electoral Institute (TEI) in Abuja, is designed to equip selected master trainers with the necessary skills and knowledge to cascade training to thousands of registration officials.

These officials will conduct the revalidation exercise across the 774 Local Government Offices, 8,809 Registration Areas (RAs), and 176,846 Polling Units (PUs) in different phases nationwide.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Board of The Electoral Institute, Professor Kunle Ajayi, stressed that a credible election begins with a credible voter register.

He urged the carefully selected participants, drawn from TEI Master Trainers and staff of the Voter Registry and ICT Departments, to remain attentive, engaged, and fully committed to the training.

“A credible election starts with a credible voter register, and it is critical to ensure the integrity of the register ahead of the 2027 General Election,” Professor Ajayi said.

He added that the success of the entire cascade training programme, and by extension the revalidation exercise itself, rested on the shoulders of the participants.

The Acting Director General of TEI, while welcoming the participants, also emphasized that the success of the revalidation exercise would depend largely on their thorough understanding of the procedures and framework of the exercise.

During the training, participants were taken through relevant tools and systems to build their confidence and technical competence so they can effectively pass on the knowledge to thousands of revalidation officials.

The Voter Revalidation Exercise is a major step by INEC towards producing a clean, accurate, and credible voters’ register for the 20

27 General Elections.