The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced training for its state-level communication officers on tackling misinformation and strengthening voter education ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The two-day Strategic Communication Workshop, which began in Abuja on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, is bringing together Heads of Department, Voter Education and Publicity (VEP), from INEC state offices across the country.
The workshop is aimed at equipping the officers with practical skills to engage voters effectively, counter misinformation and disinformation, and improve public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 polls.
Declaring the workshop open, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the Commission needed to strengthen its communication capacity in view of the growing complexity of the electoral environment.
Haruna identified funding constraints associated with the envelope budgeting system, the expanding electorate and the broad range of INEC’s statutory responsibilities among the challenges confronting the Commission.
He said the recently suspended Nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise was expected to lead to the consolidation of a voter register of more than 100 million voters, underscoring the scale of preparations required for the 2027 election.
The National Commissioner described the training as a timely response to identified capacity gaps among VEP officers nationwide, expressing confidence that participants would acquire the knowledge and tools needed to effectively discharge their voter education and public information responsibilities.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the workshop, Haruna said the training had become particularly important as political parties commence campaigns ahead of the 2027 General Election.
He said the communication officers would be required to develop effective strategies for disseminating credible electoral information ahead of the Presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, as well as the Governorship and State Assembly elections scheduled three weeks later.
On voter apathy, Haruna cautioned against attributing low voter turnout solely to INEC, describing it as a wider challenge affecting democratic participation.
He said political parties also had a responsibility to mobilise their supporters to participate in elections, adding that weaknesses in internal party democracy, particularly candidate selection processes, could contribute to voter disengagement.
The National Commissioner also pointed to INEC’s recent off-cycle governorship elections, which he said had progressively become more credible, noting that observers, civil society organisations and the media had commended the most recent exercises.
In her welcome remarks, the Director of the Voter Education and Publicity Department, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, said the workshop was designed to address a longstanding gap in professional communication training among state VEP officers.
Eta-Messi said recent staff redeployments had made the training even more necessary, as some officers without formal communication backgrounds had assumed responsibilities involving media relations and public communication in politically sensitive environments.
She said the programme would equip participants to manage misinformation campaigns, coordinate voter education activities in their respective states and communicate election-related information and outcomes clearly, accurately and confidently.
The Director reaffirmed the department’s commitment to ensuring that INEC’s communication remained visible, accessible and accountable to citizens and other stakeholders.
The workshop features sessions on strategic voter education as development communication for sustainable citizenship, legal literacy in the electoral process, INEC’s communication policy, deliberate misinformation in elections and the effective release of official information.
Resource persons include Prof. Okey Ikechukwu and Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, who are facilitating sessions designed to strengthen participants’ professional capacity and improve the Commission’s communication response ahead of the 2027 elections.
