Jane Salihu
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Nigeria’s security and intelligence agencies have pledged stronger coordination, early planning and firm law enforcement to guarantee peaceful, credible elections as the country enters a packed electoral calendar leading to the 2027 General Election.
The commitment was reiterated on Friday in Abuja at the first regular meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) for 2026, where INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, described the year as a critical period marked by multiple elections and rising public expectations.
Amupitan said the successful conduct of the Anambra State off-cycle governorship election in November 2025, shortly after he assumed office, demonstrated the importance of effective security deployment, intelligence sharing and inter-agency collaboration.
He commended security agencies for ensuring a peaceful environment that allowed INEC to conclude the poll and declare a winner on the first ballot.
With the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections scheduled for February 21, 2026, the INEC Chairman disclosed that over 1.6 million registered voters are expected across 2,822 polling units. He urged security agencies to enforce electoral laws strictly, curb vote buying, prevent the use of political thugs and guarantee the safety of voters, officials and materials.
He noted that INEC had concluded key preparations for the FCT polls, including delivery of non-sensitive materials, training of electoral officers and security personnel, recruitment and training of ad-hoc staff, and configuration of BVAS devices. A mock accreditation exercise, he added, would hold in selected polling units ahead of Election Day.
Amupitan also drew attention to simultaneous bye-elections slated for the same day in Rivers and Kano states, stressing that conducting multiple elections across different states underscored the need for heightened vigilance, adequate manpower and seamless coordination among security agencies.
Looking ahead, he said early security planning was already underway for the Ekiti State governorship election on June 20, 2026, and the Osun State governorship election on August 8, 2026, warning that elections cannot be credible if citizens feel unsafe to participate.
Speaking on behalf of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Director of Internal Security, Hassan Abdullahi, praised INEC and the security agencies for the peaceful Anambra election, describing it as evidence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to free, credible and violence-free polls.
Abdullahi said the Nigeria Police Force, as the lead agency for election security, was mobilising resources alongside other agencies to secure the FCT Area Council elections and the bye-elections in Kano and Rivers states.
He disclosed that security personnel would be deployed to polling units and flashpoints, while political thugs and vote buyers would be identified, restrained or prosecuted in accordance with the law.
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