The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) has commenced a two-day training for master trainers as part of preparations for the September 2026 Enugu State Local Government Elections.
The training, which began on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at the Conference Hall of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, is designed to equip selected electoral personnel with the knowledge and skills required to train ad hoc election workers ahead of the September 26 local government elections.
The exercise, organised in collaboration with the Peace and Civic Obligations Development Initiative (PCODI), Abuja, is focused on strengthening the capacity of electoral officials, improving professionalism and ensuring that personnel involved in the election understand the principles and procedures required for the conduct of a credible, free and fair poll.
Declaring the training open, the Executive Chairman of ENSIEC, Prof. Ngwu Christian Chimdubem, urged the participants to take the exercise seriously, stressing that they would be responsible for transferring the knowledge acquired to ad hoc electoral workers in their respective local government areas.
He said the success of the training would contribute significantly to the commission’s preparations for the election and help prevent challenges that could arise from inadequate knowledge of electoral procedures.
“This is a training for you, not for me or my commissioners. You are the ones to train the ad hoc staff in your various local government areas, so you have to be serious about this,” Prof. Ngwu said.
He explained that the state government was aware of the exercise and encouraged the participants to regard the assignment as a collective responsibility aimed at delivering a credible election.
The ENSIEC chairman also called on the participants to work diligently to ensure that the election was conducted without crisis, urging them to see the training as a project that must succeed.
Speaking during the programme, the Executive Director of PCODI, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ugboaja, said the organisation was committed to using its experience in electoral training, peacebuilding and conflict resolution to prepare the master trainers for their responsibilities.
Ugboaja said the training was based on the principles of **andragogy**, a method of adult learning that encourages participants to contribute their existing knowledge and experiences while learning from one another.
He urged the participants to approach the training with seriousness, passion and an open mind, noting that their effectiveness as master trainers would eventually determine how well the ad hoc workers perform during the election.
According to him, the participants would be exposed to the “A to Z” of election conduct, with emphasis on the integrity required in electoral administration and training.
Ugboaja said the ultimate objective was to achieve maximum performance by the ad hoc personnel and contribute to a transparent and peaceful local government election.
He expressed confidence that if the knowledge acquired during the training was properly transferred to the workers, Enugu State could conduct one of the best local government elections in Nigeria.
Among those leading the training lectures and sessions are *Dr. Chukwuemeka Ugboaja, Ph.D., and Dr. Uchenna Cyril Anioke, Ph.D., alongside other resource persons drawn from the fields of electoral administration, peacebuilding and conflict resolution.
The workshop objectives include exposing participants to best practices in election administration, deepening their understanding of issues involved in the conduct of credible elections, and enhancing their professionalism and capacity to train other election personnel.
Also speaking on the importance of the exercise, Okay Okolo, Electoral Officer for Uzo-Uwani, said the training would provide participants with an opportunity to strengthen their knowledge, confidence and ability to effectively pass information to other electoral personnel.
Okolo said participants would return to their respective local government areas after the training and continue the process by cascading the knowledge to the wards.
He added that the training would prepare electoral personnel in areas including election management, conflict resolution and logistics, which are critical to the successful conduct of the forthcoming local government election.
The two-day training is expected to end on Thursday, August 27, after which the trained master trainers will proceed to their respective areas to commence further training of electoral personnel ahead of the September 26, 2026 Enugu State Local Government Elections.
The exercise is therefore being seen as a critical part of ENSIEC’s wider preparations to ensure that electoral officials are adequately equipped to perform their duties professionally and contribute to a peaceful, transparent and credible election.