INEC Continues Capacity Building Of Personnel Ahead 2023 General Elections…

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has reminded its Heads of Departments and Public Affairs Officers that as the interface between the Commission and its critical stakeholders at the State and Local Government levels, that there are irreducible minimums that must be met so as to perform effectively and optimally.

The National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye, who gave this charge at the INEC Voter Education and Publicity Training on Strategic Communication During the Election in Lagos said, some of these values have to do with the individual while others are related to the work of the Commission.

He said at the individual level, they include Personal Appearance, Composure and Comportment, Personal Integrity, Good reading habit and documentation among others.

Barrister Okoye, reminded them that they can face challenges such as the crave for sensational headlines, the specter of fake news, the problem of planted stories, the breaking news syndrome, Information leakage from within especially with the elections by the corners.

He charged them to know their subject and become the expert, always preparing well before going for a live interview as they cannot take back what they say on live interviews.

According to him, they should be proactive with information sharing as it is better to give information upfront than allow the media to share false information and they struggle to explain.

He however advised them not to run away from the media but should keep their answers on the borderline especially when issues are unfolding, avoid ambiguity and to check whether their words and sentences may be subject to different interpretations.