THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on
Wednesday in Abuja it was working closely with security agencies to
provide additional training of security officials on election duty. Its Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, told the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) that the additional training became necessary because election
duty "requires specialised training".
Jega said the additional training would be on a train-the-trainer
basis whereby officers trained would train other officers in their
various organisations ahead of the 2015 general elections. "In the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, we
have severally discussed the need to ensure that security agencies are
well trained. "A number of programme of activities has been designed for the training of security officials on election duty. "Security officers are trained on their jobs of maintaining law and order but election duty also requires specialised training.
"As I speak with you, the Electoral Institute of INEC is working
closely with many security agencies trying to organise what we call a
training of trainers so that each organisation will send some people,
who will be trained at our institute, so that they can go back and train
others in their own organisations. "So, I want to assure you that everybody - both INEC and the security
agencies - have seen the need to provide additional training for
security personnel who are going to be involved in elections.
"And a lot of measures are being put in place to ensure that is done before the 2015 general elections."
The INEC chairman said the commission was working hard to see that
the salaries and wages of staff members of the commission were improved
and made commensurate with the "special" and "risky" nature of their
jobs. "Since we came in as a new commission, we have done our best to improve the welfare of our workers. "The only thing we have not been able to do is to increase their
salaries; and that one is difficult because salary and wage review is
normally done at a higher systemic level.
"But we have been pushing and dialoging with government, trying to
argue that INEC staff members discharge special, risky responsibilities
and therefore deserve special salary scale. "And we are doing our best; our hope is that sooner or later we will
be able to have a separate salary structure for the staff members of the
commission. "But even before we are able to get that we have been doing
everything possible to improve their welfare and their conditions of
work."
He said the new INEC management had given some of the commission's offices a facelift. Jega said the headquarters of the commission had been decongested by renting offices nearby. He said, "whatever we can do within the limit of our resources and
permissible by law, we have been able to do and will keep on doing.
"The welfare of our workers is primary and whatever is possible
within the law we will do so that they can be contented and motivated to
give their best to the country." NAN
 said on Wednesday in Abuja it was working closely with security agencies to pro...){kind=link}
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