Training is critical success factor in the deployment of technology in elections – Yakubu

• Insists BVAS and IReV portal have come to stay as means of voter accreditation and transmission of election results

By Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja

The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has stated that the Commission is convinced that training is a critical success factor in the deployment of technology in elections. The INEC boss said this in his remarks at the training of master trainers on election technology in Abuja.

According to Yakubu, over the last two years, the commission has increased the deployment of technology in the elections in Nigeria of which 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. He further stated that of these innovations, most Nigerians are more familiar with 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, he noted 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 IReV portal have come to stay as a means of voter accreditation and transmission of elections results”, he stressed. He further stated, “From the experience of recent off-cycle elections, the commission is convinced that a critical success factor in the deployment of technology in elections is training. We need to build the capacity of the staff involved not only to competently handle the devices during elections. Our plan for 2023 General Election is to commence the training of election officials early and for a longer period of time for optimal understanding of the processes and procedures in order to serve Nigerians better. A key component of this effort is election technology “. He continued, “Today, we begin the process with the training of master trainers to serve as Registration Area Technical Support (RATECH). A total of 82 officials drawn from offices nationwide will form the nucleus of the training. Over the next three days, they will receive intensive hands-on training on the new technology. Thereafter, they will train more officials at Zonal level to cover all the 8,809 Registration Area (or Wards). In turn, these officials will be involved in the training of ad hoc staff for the 176,846 polling units nationwide”.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman, Board of the Electoral Institute (BEI), Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, stated that the training attests to the premium the Chairman of INEC attaches to enhancing the technical, managerial or organisational capacities of electoral officials for the 2023 General Election. He further noted that the special training and retraining of all categories of electoral personnel for delivery of effective and efficient electoral services at all levels is a standing principles of the Commission. “Its underlying philosophy is to ensure that election officials imbibe the right knowledge, skill sets and attitude needed for the discharge of their duties and responsibilities towards the conduct of free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent elections. Mathematically, we say good training =competent personnel =credible process=acceptable election =happy Nation”, he added.

In his goodwill message, the country Director of International Foundation For Electoral System (IFES), Mr. Seray Jah, said the training is significant as it presents a huge opportunity for the Commission to enhance the transparency and credibility of elections through the deployment of technology on a large scale for the conduct of 2023 General elections, using the Electoral Act 2022. The training he noted 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 FCT for the 2023 General elections. His words, “The skills gathered here by master trainers who have been carefully selected by the commission would be useful in training the Registration Area Support Staff (RATechSS) who will be deployed during the elections to troubleshoot issues arising from technological devices deployed during the 2023 General elections”. He also extends his appreciation to donors, the United States Agency For International Development (USAID), and the Foreign Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) for their continuous support and commitment to enhacing credible elections in Nigeria.