The Chairman, Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), Mr Michael Ajogu, has reiterated the resolve of the commission to conduct a credible and transparent local government election on Feb. 23, 2022.
Ajogu disclosed this on Tuesday in Enugu during a training organised by the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) for staff of ENSIEC.
Ikengaonline reports that the training was attended by senior management staff, electoral and assistant electoral officers on election administration.
The chairman said that the essence of the training was to equip the concerned staffers with the necessary knowledge to drive a transparent electoral process on the election day.
He said that staffers of the commission must be equipped with firsthand knowledge on voter education.
“Our aim is to conduct a credible election that others can emulate because elections must be credible and transparent in order to sustain our democracy,” he said.
Ajogu said that the commission would not tolerate any form of corrupt practices by its staffers.
According to him, their members of staff are trained for the execution of a transparent election and must do everything possible to be fair to all parties in the contest.
He said that electoral malpractices were capable of jeopardising the growth of the nation and democracy, adding that onlly free and fair election could guarantee visionary leaders.
The chairman commended ECES for their support and encouragement in the buildup to the election.
He said that such support would aid the electoral umpire in achieving its goal of ensuring that all contestants in the election were fairly and equally treated.
In a remark, the Project Cordinator, ECES, Mr Hamza Fassi-Fihri, said that the local government was the bedrock of national development.
Fassi-Fihri, who was represented by the ECES Development Consultant, Mr Jide Ojo, said that the country needed to build a solid structure for economic growth.
“We must build a strong structure for this country and if we fail at the local goverment level, it will affect every other aspect of our economic life as a nation,” he said.
The project coordinator urged the participants to be good ambassadors of ENSIEC wherever they would be deployed for election duties on Feb. 23, 2022.
