By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has underscored the critical role of security in the successful conduct of elections, describing it as both the \u201cfirst mile and the last mile\u201d of the electoral process.<\/p>\n
Prof. Amupitan made this known on Wednesday, during a courtesy visit to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, where he formally sought the support and collaboration of the Nigeria Police Force ahead of the 2027 General Elections.<\/p>\n
Congratulating the IGP on his recent appointment, the INEC Chairman expressed confidence in his leadership, noting that his experience would strengthen efforts toward ensuring a safe and secure electoral environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are confident that your vast experience and dedication will greatly enhance our collective efforts towards ensuring a safe and secure electoral process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Prof. Amupitan informed the police leadership that the Commission has commenced preparations for the 2027 General Elections, scheduled for January 16, 2027, for the Presidential and National Assembly polls, and February 6, 2027, for Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.<\/p>\n
He noted that the release of the election timetable and the ongoing political party activities, including ward congresses and conventions, signal the full activation of the electoral process, which he described as a \u201csecurity trigger.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to him, political parties are expected to conduct their primaries in line with Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2026, which permits only direct primaries and consensus for candidate nominations.<\/p>\n
The INEC Chairman also drew attention to upcoming off-cycle governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States, as well as a series of bye-elections across the country, describing them as critical milestones in Nigeria\u2019s democratic journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese elections are crucial milestones in Nigeria\u2019s democratic journey, and it is imperative that they are conducted peacefully and seamlessly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Addressing longstanding challenges in Nigeria\u2019s electoral system, Prof. Amupitan identified issues such as electoral malpractices, vote trading, and threats of violence as factors that undermine public confidence and pose risks to national security.<\/p>\n
He stressed the need for proactive security measures, including comprehensive risk assessments to identify potential flashpoints and deploy appropriate mitigation strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scale of insecurity across various parts of the country presents a threat to the conduct of free and fair elections. It is essential that we carry out thorough security risk analyses ahead of the elections,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging the Nigeria Police Force as the lead agency in election security, the INEC Chairman pledged the Commission\u2019s full cooperation, emphasizing the importance of intelligence sharing, strategic planning, and community engagement.<\/p>\n
He further highlighted the role of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), describing it as the \u201cheartbeat\u201d of operational safety during elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur success depends on ICCES moving from reactive policing to proactive intelligence coordination,\u201d he said, adding that all stakeholders must ensure a unified, multi-agency approach to protecting electoral personnel, materials, and voters.<\/p>\n
Prof. Amupitan reaffirmed INEC\u2019s commitment to working closely with the police and other security agencies to deliver peaceful, credible, and transparent elections that reflect the will of the Nigerian people.<\/p>\n
Responding to the concerns and requests raised earlier by the INEC Chairman, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Olatunji Rilwan Disu, assured the Commission of the Nigeria Police Force\u2019s preparedness to provide a secure environment for the conduct of the 2027 general elections. He said the Police, as the lead agency in election security management, would discharge its responsibilities with professionalism, impartiality and strict adherence to the Constitution, the Electoral Act and other extant laws.<\/p>\n
The IGP stated that the Force had already begun strategic threat assessments and intelligence mapping nationwide to identify flashpoints and emerging security risks ahead of the elections. According to him, issues such as political violence, the proliferation of illegal arms, voter intimidation, cyber manipulation, misinformation, and attacks on electoral infrastructure had been identified as priority concerns requiring proactive attention. He added that intelligence-led deployments and preventive policing strategies would be adopted to neutralize threats before they escalate.<\/p>\n
Mr. Disu also assured the Commission of adequate security for electoral officials, sensitive materials, collation centres and other critical electoral infrastructure throughout the electoral process. He stressed that no political party, candidate or interest group would enjoy preferential treatment from the Police, warning that officers found engaging in partisan conduct or unethical practices would face disciplinary and legal consequences. \u201cWe will ensure that we enforce electoral laws firmly and we will do it professionally,\u201d the IGP said.<\/p>\n
The Police boss further called for early release and wide dissemination of the election timetable to support effective planning, logistics coordination, personnel training and inter-agency collaboration. He advocated stronger cooperation among security agencies through joint trainings, intelligence sharing and harmonised communication strategies, while also revealing plans to engage political parties through peace accords and stakeholder seminars aimed at promoting peaceful conduct before, during and after the elections.<\/p>\n
He added that officers selected for election duties would undergo intensive training on electoral security management, human rights compliance, rules of engagement, crowd control and ethical conduct.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has underscored the critical role of security in the successful conduct of elections, describing it as both the \u201cfirst mile and the last mile\u201d of the electoral process. Prof. Amupitan made this known on Wednesday, during a courtesy visit to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13419,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13418\/revisions\/13419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}