The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded a two-day strategic communication workshop for Heads of Department, Voter Education and Publicity (VEP), from its state offices across the country, as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
The workshop, which opened in Abuja on Wednesday and ended Thursday. It focused on strengthening the capacity of state-level communication officers to counter misinformation and disinformation, improve voter education, and enhance public confidence in the electoral process.
Declaring the workshop open, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the training became necessary to address identified capacity gaps among VEP officers.
Haruna noted that the Commission was facing several operational challenges, including funding constraints under the envelope budgeting system, an expanding electorate, and the increasing scope of its statutory responsibilities.
He disclosed that the recently suspended Nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise is expected to produce a voter register of more than 100 million voters, underscoring the scale of preparations for the 2027 election.
According to him, the communication officers will play a critical role in providing accurate information to voters and addressing misinformation as political parties begin their campaigns ahead of the polls.
He announced that the Presidential and National Assembly elections were scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Assembly elections would follow three weeks later.
On voter apathy, Haruna said the problem should not be attributed solely to INEC, stressing that political parties and other stakeholders also have responsibilities in mobilising citizens to participate in elections. He cited the Commission’s recent off-cycle governorship elections, which he said have become increasingly credible and have received commendation from observers, civil society organisations and the media.
Haruna also linked voter disengagement partly to weaknesses in internal party democracy, particularly the processes through which political parties select candidates.
In her welcome remarks, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, said the workshop was designed to address a longstanding shortage of professional communication training among Heads of Department, VEP.
She said recent staff redeployments had further exposed the gap, with some officers without formal communication backgrounds now responsible for media relations and public communication in politically sensitive environments.
Eta-Messi said the training would equip participants with the skills to manage misinformation campaigns, coordinate voter education programmes, and communicate election-related information and results accurately and confidently.
She reaffirmed the department’s commitment to making the Commission’s communication more visible, accessible, and accountable to citizens and other stakeholders.
The workshop featured five thematic sessions covering strategic voter education, legal literacy, INEC’s internal and external communication policy, deliberate misinformation in the electoral process, and the effective release of official information.
Resource persons for the workshop include communication professionals Okey Ikechukwu and Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi.
The training brought together Heads of Department, VEP, from INEC state offices nationwide, alongside officials of the Commission’s Voter Education and Publicity Department.