The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) has trained Electoral Officers and Assistant Electoral Officers as master trainers ahead of the September 26, 2026 local government election across the state.
The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) has commenced preparations for the September 26, 2026 local government election by training Electoral Officers (EOs) and Assistant Electoral Officers (AEOs) on election management and conduct.
The two-day exercise, titled “Training of Master Trainers on the Management and Conduct of 2026 Enugu State Local Government Election,” was held in Enugu on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
The training was organised in partnership with the Peace and Civic Obligations Development Initiative, an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation focused on civic engagement, peacebuilding and conflict resolution.
Declaring the training open, ENSIEC Chairman, Prof. Christian Ngwu, said the commission had scheduled September 26 for elections into the 27 chairmanship and 260 councillorship positions across Enugu State.
Ngwu said participants would return to their respective local government areas after the exercise to train ad-hoc personnel who will participate in the election.
He explained that the training covered key aspects of election management and was necessary to ensure that both newly appointed officers and personnel with previous experience had updated knowledge of electoral procedures.
The ENSIEC chairman said the commission had to develop an alternative training arrangement after the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), which trained ENSIEC personnel in 2024, was unable to continue its support.
He noted that some officers who benefited from 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,” Ngwu said.
“The new electoral officers need to be trained, while those who had the previous training also needed a refresher course.”
Ngwu expressed confidence that the participants would acquire sufficient knowledge to train ad-hoc personnel effectively ahead of the September 26 poll.
He also assured political parties, candidates and residents that ENSIEC was committed to conducting a free and fair election without crisis.
The chairman urged political parties and candidates to engage voters peacefully and campaign for their support, while assuring stakeholders that the commission would concentrate on its statutory responsibility of organising the election.
The training comes as electoral authorities across Nigeria continue to emphasise the importance of preparing election officials ahead of polls. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for instance, recently trained Supervisory Presiding Officers ahead of the June 20 Enugu North Senatorial District by-election, stressing the importance of professionalism, discipline, integrity and sound knowledge of electoral procedures.
Also speaking, Dr Chukwuemeka Ugboaja, Executive Director of the Peace and Civic Obligations Development Initiative and lead trainer, said the exercise was designed to update the knowledge and skills of EOs and AEOs ahead of their roles as master trainers.
Ugboaja said participants would be exposed to the “A to Z” of election conduct and management so they could effectively transfer the knowledge to ad-hoc personnel.
He said his organisation was involved in workshops, facilitation and training, as well as peace and conflict resolution and mobilisation of citizens to fulfil their civic responsibilities.
“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 optimism that the training would contribute to a peaceful and hitch-free election and position Enugu to conduct one of the best local government elections.
One of the participants, Okey Okolo, Electoral Officer for Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, said the training would equip officers to handle election-related challenges, including conflict resolution and logistics.
Okolo said participants would take the knowledge acquired back to their respective local government areas and cascade the training to ward-level ad-hoc personnel.
With the September 26 poll approaching, the training represents another stage in ENSIEC’s preparations to equip election officials with the knowledge and practical skills required for the effective management of the statewide local government election.
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