The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has warned security agencies against relying on last-minute deployments to secure elections.
Musa said effective election security required months of intelligence-led planning, inter-agency coordination and continuous assessment of emerging threats.
The minister spoke on Tuesday while delivering the keynote address at a security seminar organised by Blueprint newspaper.
He said election security should not be treated as an activity limited to election day but as a continuous process that begins well before campaigns and extends beyond the announcement of results.
Musa noted that emerging threats to elections now extended beyond physical attacks at polling units to include cyber threats, misinformation, economic hardship and the manipulation of ethnic and religious divisions.
He warned that an anonymous actor operating online could pose as much danger to electoral integrity as an armed individual at a polling station by manipulating information and undermining public confidence.
The minister proposed a six pillar framework for improving election security, beginning with strategic intelligence and early warning systems.
He also identified protection of digital infrastructure, civil-military coordination, unified strategic communication, a responsible information environment and engaged citizens as key elements of effective election security.
Musa stressed the need for security agencies to work together without institutional rivalry, while respecting their constitutional responsibilities.
He also called for timely and coordinated communication to counter misinformation and maintain public confidence before, during and after elections.
The minister said the fight against misinformation required the collective efforts of government, the media, technology companies, civil society organisations, educational institutions and citizens.
Also speaking at the event, former Zamfara State Governor, AbdulAziz Yari, urged politicians not to exploit insecurity for political advantage.
Yari described the fight against insecurity as a collective responsibility, stressing that the problem had persisted under successive administrations.
He called for fairness and justice in addressing the country’s security challenges.
