From Atiku Sarki, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a two-day capacity-building workshop for Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), aimed at strengthening archiving, cataloguing and documentation practices across the Commission.
According to a Commission bulletin, the workshop, themed “Preserving Institutional Memory Through Effective Archiving and Documentation,” was organised by the Voter Education and Publicity (VEP) Department and is being held in Abuja from Tuesday, September 22, to Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
Declaring the workshop open, the Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Kudu Haruna, represented by the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, described archiving as a critical function of the Commission that has often been overlooked.
“It is a key leg in the department that we have our archiving done properly, for posterity, for reference, for lesson learning,” Haruna said.
He noted that materials from previous election cycles were often left unpreserved in the states, limiting the Commission’s ability to conduct comparative analysis and build on past experiences.
Haruna said the newly established Graphics, Library and Documentation (GLD) Division was created to address the gap and charged the PAOs to take the training seriously, as they would also serve as GLD Desk Officers in their respective states.
“I want to enjoin us to please take this engagement and interaction seriously, so that by the time we go back to our respective states, we will be better prepared and positioned to begin to do the work of GLD,” he said.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Adedayo Oketola, also underscored the importance of the workshop, particularly as the Commission prepares for the 2027 General Election.
He encouraged participants to take the skills and knowledge acquired during the training back to their respective states and become implementers of the vision to adequately and effectively preserve the Commission’s institutional memory.
In her remarks on the objectives of the workshop, the Deputy Director of Graphics, Library and Documentation described the exercise as a long-overdue return to standard practice in records management.
She noted that many states could not readily produce documented records of past Commission activities, a situation she said undermined the credibility and institutional authority of INEC’s information officers.
“The Commission’s credibility rests as much on its memory as on its neutrality. You cannot defend a decision you can no longer explain,” she said.
She added that undocumented practices increased the risk of inconsistent application of guidelines across state and local offices, as well as litigation and public trust challenges.
Quoting writer Adjori Augustine, she told participants that “what you don’t put down doesn’t exist,” stressing that documentation, rather than confidence alone, provides officers with the evidence needed to defend the Commission’s decisions and preserve its history.
She said the Commission would establish a central, secure archive covering election guidelines, results documentation, litigation records, post-election reviews and pictorial materials from Commission activities nationwide.
She described the initiative as essential preparation ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Participants are expected to undergo practical sessions on digital documentation on the second day of the training, with further engagements planned to monitor the implementation of the new archiving standards across the states ahead of the 2027 elections.
