Materials from previous election cycles often left unpreserved in states – INEC

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has affirmed that materials from previous election cycles were often left unpreserved in states, thereby limiting the Commission’s ability to conduct comparative analysis and build on past experience.

To address this gap, the Commission said it has

established Graphics, Library and Documentation (GLD) division, and charged Public Affairs Officers  (PAOs) to take the training seriously as they would double as GLD desk officers in their respective states.

Speaking at a two-day workshop on the training of Public Affairs Officers (PAOs), National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, stated that the training was aimed at strengthening archiving, cataloguing and documentation practices across the Commission.

Themed: “Preserving Institutional Memory Through Effective Archiving and Documentation,” the workshop organised by the department of Voter Education and Publicity (VEP), held in Abuja on Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday.

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,

“It is regrettable that materials from previous election cycles are often left unpreserved in states, limiting the Commission’s ability to conduct comparative analysis and build on past experience.”

“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 geared up for the 2027 general election.

He encouraged the participants to take the skills and knowledge acquired from the training to their respective states and be implementers of the vision to adequately and effectively preserve the Commissions memories.

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 undermines 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, adding that undocumented practice increases the risk of inconsistent application of guidelines across state and local offices, as well as litigation and public trust challenges.

She told participants that “what you don’t put down doesn’t exist,” stressing that documentation, and not confidence alone, gives officers the evidence needed to defend the Commission’s decisions and 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, describing this as essential preparation ahead of the 2027 general election.

Participants at the workshop were expected to undergo practical sessions on digital documentation on the second day of the training, with further engagements planned to monitor implementation of the new archiving standards across states ahead of the 2027 elections.