The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun a one day capacity-building workshop for voter education providers preparatory to the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
Alhaji Jamil Elyakub, the Administrative Secretary of the commission, said while addressing the participants in Yola on Monday that 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 participants are drawn from INEC, media organisations and civil society groups, saying the exercise was a zonal event which comprised 100 participants.
He added that the participants were carefully selected across the six northeast states of Bauchi, Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Taraba and Gombe.
He explained that appropriate voter education ensured free, fair and credible elections, stressing 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.
Mr Mathew Alao, the UNDP official, commended the commission for organizing the workshop, especially considering that 2023 was fast approaching.
He said 95 million Nigerians were expected to vote during the 2023 general elections hence the need for proper voter education, adding that an educated electorate was the bedrock for democracy and the rule of law.
He assured that UNDP would continue to support institutionalisation of democratic governance in Nigeria.