The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has begun a two-day Strategic Communication Workshop for Heads of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, VEP, from its state offices nationwide, as part of preparations for the 2027 General Election.
The workshop, which opened in Abuja on Wednesday, August 19, and ends on Thursday, August 20, 2026, is designed to strengthen the capacity of state-level communication officers to engage effectively with voters, combat misinformation and disinformation, and build public confidence in the electoral process.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, IVEC, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the Commission was operating in an increasingly challenging environment marked by funding constraints, a growing electorate and an expanding range of statutory responsibilities.
He said the recently suspended Nationwide Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise was expected to result in a voter register of more than 100 million voters, highlighting the scale of the Commission’s responsibilities and the need for effective voter education and public communication at the state level.
Haruna described the workshop as a timely intervention to address identified capacity gaps among Heads of Department, VEP, across the country.
He expressed confidence that the training would provide participants with the knowledge and practical skills required to effectively discharge the Commission’s voter education and public information responsibilities.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the workshop, Haruna said the training was particularly important as political parties prepare to commence campaigns for the 2027 elections.
He said the workshop would help VEP officers develop communication strategies ahead of the elections, with the Presidential and National Assembly polls scheduled for January 16, 2027, followed three weeks later by the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
On voter apathy, Haruna cautioned against placing the responsibility for low turnout solely on INEC, describing voter participation as a broader democratic challenge involving political parties, citizens and other stakeholders.
He cited the Commission’s recent off-cycle governorship elections as evidence of improvements in the credibility of the electoral process, noting that observers, civil society organisations and the media had commended the conduct of the most recent elections.
The National Commissioner stressed that although voter education was a statutory responsibility of INEC, political parties also had an important role in mobilising their supporters to participate in elections.
He further noted that shortcomings in internal party democracy, particularly the manner in which candidates were selected, could discourage citizens from participating in the electoral process.
Also speaking, the Director of the Voter Education and Publicity Department, Victoria Eta-Messi, said the workshop was organised to address a longstanding gap in professional communication training for Heads of Department, VEP.
Eta-Messi said the challenge had become more pronounced following recent staff redeployments, which had seen some officers without formal communication backgrounds assume responsibility for media relations and public communication in politically sensitive environments.
She said the training would equip participants with the skills to respond effectively to misinformation, coordinate voter education initiatives in their respective states and communicate election-related information and results accurately, clearly and confidently.
The Director reaffirmed the department’s commitment to making INEC’s communication more visible, accessible and accountable to citizens and other stakeholders.
She also commended the resource persons, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu and Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, whom she described as seasoned communication professionals brought in to strengthen the participants’ capacity as voter education practitioners.
The workshop features five thematic sessions covering strategic voter education as development communication for sustainable citizenship; legal literacy as a tool for effective voter education; INEC’s internal and external communication policy; understanding and responding to deliberate misinformation in the electoral process; and the effective release of official information, including decisions on what information should be released, where, when, to whom and through which channels.
The workshop was attended by Heads of Department, VEP, from INEC state offices across the country, as well as officials of the Commission’s Voter Education and Publicity Department.
