Ahead of the 2026 Local Government Council election, the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) has trained Electoral Officers (EOs) and Assistant Electoral Officers (AEOs) on conduct and management of elections.
The training entitled: “Training of Master Trainers on the Management and Conduct of 2026 Enugu State Local Government Election,” was held in Enugu as part of preparations for the election scheduled for September.
The training was conducted in partnership with Peace and Civic Obligations Development Initiative, an Abuja-based Non Governmental Organization.
Declaring the two-day training open, ENSIEC Chairman, Prof. Christian Ngwu, said the commission had fixed Sept. 26 for elections into the 27 chairmanship and 260 councillorship positions in the state.
Ngwu said that the participants would subsequently return to their various local government areas to train ad-hoc personnel, who would participate in the election.
Ngwu, who said that the training covered the scope of election management, added that it was important to equip both appointed officers and those with previous experience with updated knowledge.
He said the initiative had become necessary following the inability of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), which had trained ENSIEC personnel in 2024 to continue its support.
According to him, some of the officers who received the earlier training were no longer with the commission, while others required refresher training.
“Because somebody or some organisations could not assist us, we have to find a way to train our people.
“The new electoral officers need to be trained, while those who had the previous training also needed a refresher course,” he said.
He said his expectation was that the participants would be adequately grounded in election management and would effectively train the ad-hoc staff for the Sept. 26 poll.
Ngwu also assured that the election would be free, fair and devoid of crisis.
He urged political parties and candidates to engage with voters and campaign for their support, saying the commission would focus on its responsibility of conducting the election.
Also speaking, Dr Chukwuemeka Ugboaja, Executive Director of Peace and Civic Obligations Development Initiative, said the exercise was aimed at updating the knowledge of the EOs and AEOs ahead of their assignment as master trainers.
Ugboaja, also the lead trainer, said the participants would be exposed to the “A to Z’’ of election conduct and management to enable them to effectively train the ad-hoc personnel.
He said the organisation was involved in workshops, facilitation and training as well as peace and conflict resolution and mobilisation of citizens to fulfil their civic obligations.
“Our target is maximum performance. We are giving them the best to transfer to the ad-hoc workers so that the ad-hoc workers will perform maximally,” he said.
Ugboaja expressed the optimism that the training would contribute to a hitch-free election and enable Enugu to conduct one of the best local government elections.
One of the beneficiaries and EO for Uzo-Uwani Council Area, Mr Okey Okolo, said the training would prepare the officers to effectively handle election-related issues, including conflict resolution and logistics.
Okolo said they would take the knowledge acquired back to their respective local government areas and cascade the training to ward-level ad-hoc personnel.
