BRIDGE Operational Planning Workshop For LASIEC Staff

A three (3) day BRIDGE Professional Development Training on Operational Planning was organized for Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) staff in Nigeria on June 23-26, 2023. LASIEC an EMB in Nigeria is tasked with the responsibility for conducting Local Government Area (LGA) elections in Lagos State. The training comes amidst increasing citizens’ awareness and demand for credible elections at the sub-national levels in Nigeria. Therefore, providing this form of capacity-building training to the LASIEC is of vital importance to aid effective planning for the conduct of credible LGA elections in the State.

Twenty-one participants comprising the Secretary to the Commission and twenty senior staff of LASIEC were trained in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital. Of the twenty-one participants, nine (9) were females and twelve (12) were males. The workshop was conducted under the Supporting Electoral Accountability and Transparency (SEAT) project as part of technical assistance from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), with funding from USAID and FCDO.

The Professional development training was intended to expose LASIEC and its senior staff to the benefits of operational planning for institutional strengthening toward managing credible local elections in Lagos State. The training also provided the opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with operational plans, and discuss the intricacies associated with developing any planning tools that the EMB can deploy when conducting sub-national elections.

The thematic modules and topics covered include: Elections – What it is; Why; Types, Introduction to Planning – The electoral cycle, The Biggest Operational and Logistical Event, What is an Election Operations Plan?, Main Components of an Operations Plan, Planning for Core Election Tasks, Allocating Responsibilities in Operational planning, Prioritising Tasks, Risk management, Benefit of Operational planning, Key Elements and Deadlines Influencing Parameters, EMB Fundamentals (Lessons Learned from the Previous Elections, The Electoral Environment/Context, Budget Availability and Considerations, Considering Time, Cost and Quality), Establishing key milestones, Establishing Core Election Tasks, Concepts and Parameters, Gender Considerations, Developing an Election Operations Plan Framework.

At the end of the training, participants were able to demonstrate a better understanding of Operational planning through the completion of their reintegration plan to indicate where, how, and when they could apply the knowledge acquired during the training within a period of 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. The knowledge gained will be useful in institutionalizing planning for LASIEC in the administration of local council elections in the State.

The participants also expressed gratitude to IFES and the funding Partners for the timeliness of the training and for creating the enabling environment for learning – this was elicited from their comments during the final workshop evaluation and reflection sessions.

The training was facilitated by Seray Jah as the lead facilitator – Accrediting Facilitator, Obaje Ukeh – Workshop Facilitator and Victor Ajine Enyi – TtF Complete facilitators.