No fewer than 47 officials of Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) are currently undergoing train-the-trainer workshop on various aspects of election management ahead of the Sept. 26 Enugu State Local Government Elections.
At the two-day intensive training workshop were: ENSIEC’s 17 Electoral Officers (EOs) for each of the 17 council areas in the state, 17 Assistant Electoral Officers (AEOs), seven directors, five commissioners and one administrative secretary.
Declaring the training open, the Executive Chairman of ENSIEC, Prof. Christian Ngwu, said that the EOs and AEOs would step down the training to ad hoc staff at the local government level for the election.
Ngwu said that the training covered the scope of election monitoring and management, added that it was important to equip both appointed officers and those with previous experience with updated knowledge.
“Some of the officers who received the earlier training were no longer with the commission, while others required refresher training and new electoral officers needed to be trained entirely.
“It is expected that the participants, who are ENSIEC officers, will be adequately grounded in election management and would effectively train the ad-hoc staff for the Sept. 26 Elections,” he said.
The executive chairman said that the commission had created a level playing ground for the 11 political parties participating in the forthcoming Local Government Elections.
“The commission is assuring residents of the state, the electorate, candidates and various political actors of a well-conduct, free, fair and credible poll on Sept. 26.
“We are putting together all preparation and arrangements in place to ensure a successful, peaceful and transparent polls,” he said.
Corroborating, the Executive Director of Peace and Civic Obligations Development Initiative, Dr Chukwuemeka Ugboaja, said the training would
updating the knowledge of the EOs and AEOs ahead of their assignment as master trainers.
“The participants will be exposed to the “A to Z’’ of election conduct and management to enable them to effectively train the ad-hoc personnel,” Ugboaja, also the lead trainer, said.
According to him, our target is to ensure maximum performance. We are giving them the best to transfer to the ad-hoc workers so that the ad-hoc workers will perform maximally.
“I am optimistic that the training will contribute to a hitch-free election and enable Enugu State to conduct one of the best local government elections in the country,” he said.
One of the participants, Mr Okechukwu Okolo, said the training would prepare the officers to effectively handling of election-related issues, including conflict resolution and logistics.
Okolo, who is the EO for Uzo-Uwani Council Area, assured that the EOs would take the knowledge acquired back to their respective local government areas and cascade the training to ward-level ad-hoc personnel.
The training is themed: “Training of Master Trainers on the Management and Conduct of 2026 Enugu State Local Government Elections.”
It would be recalled that ENSIEC had scheduled Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026 as Local Council Elections Day for elections into the 17 Chairmanship and 260 Councillorship positions in Enugu State.
