The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged security agencies to intensify planning, deployment, intelligence gathering, and inter-agency coordination ahead of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections and the by-elections in Rivers and Kano states scheduled for February 21.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made the call during the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting held at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Amupitan stressed that early planning and effective intelligence gathering were crucial to ensuring that all electoral activities were conducted in a safe, peaceful, and credible environment.
He also called for early and sustained security engagement ahead of the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, as well as the 2027 general elections, noting that elections cannot be credible if citizens feel unsafe to participate.
Meanwhile, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has warned political actors with violent tendencies and those involved in vote buying to desist from such acts during the forthcoming FCT Area Council election and the by-elections in Rivers and Kano states.
Ribadu issued the warning at the ICCES meeting organised by INEC in Abuja, ahead of the February 21 elections. He cautioned that any individual or group planning to disrupt the electoral process would be identified and restrained before, during, and after the polls.
The NSA also called on the media, civil society organisations, community leaders, and citizens to embrace a “sense of shared responsibility” in safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy.
