Barring any further amendment to INEC’s schedule of activities and guidelines for 2027 general elections, eligible Nigerians with permanent voters cards will go to the polls on January 16,2027 and February 6, 2027 respectively to re-elect and elect political leaders at the federal and state levels.Those to be re-elected and elected in line with the provisions of the 1999 constitution and Electoral Amendment Act 2026 will pilot the affairs of the nation and its affiliate states for the next four years beginning from May 29, 2027. However,there are speculations and surmises that the 2027 general elections may not hold due to rising insecurity in Nigeria particularly in the North East, North West,South West and other parts of the country. Recall that on Wednesday, November 26,2025, President Tinubu declared a nation-wide state of emergency on insecurity in Nigeria as part of his administration’s efforts at tackling insecurity and charged the Service Chiefs to be alive to their responsibilities. Since then, the security situation in the country is not getting better. This is evident in the recent killings of innocent citizens and security agents by bandits and terrorists in some parts of the country. However, as security of lives and property of Nigerians is the primary constitutional responsibility of the government, there is an urgent need for the federal and state governments to tackle security challenges at all levels before conducting the 2027 general elections. Nigeria’s security architecture should be sanitized reformed and transformed and sponsors of insecurity arrested and prosecuted with dispatch. If not adequately and holistically obliterated, insecurity is capable of affecting the election in various ways.They include instilling fear of being attacked, maimed or killed in Nigerians, low turnout of voters, hijacking of election materials, , manipulation of election results and subversion of the will of the people by anti-democratic elements.To, therefore, ensure free, fair and transparent elections in 2027, the Nigerian Armed Forces comprising the Air Force, Army and Navy, Nigeria Police Force, Department of Security Services, Nigeria Defence Intelligence Agency, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Correctional Services, EFCC, ICPC, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Federal Road Safety Commission and Homeland Security Outfits must rise to the occasion to ensure that elections hold in all the states of the federation. Although the laws, Edicts and Acts establishing these security agencies never charged them with guaranteeing smooth conduct of elections, the current security situation across the country makes it germane for them to be directly or indirectly involved in the process. Nigerians expect the Armed Forces to protect and defend the country’s land and sea borders before, during and after the elections. The Nigerian Air Force should ensure adequate control, surveillance and defence of Nigeria’s airspace while the Nigerian Navy assists in the conduct of elections in riverine areas of the country. The DSS should monitor political campaigns, violation of electoral laws, political thuggery and political terrorism, vote buying and selling. The Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence should provide adequate security for aspirants, voters, INEC permanent and adhoc staff, sensitive and non-sensitive materials. The Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies must be strengthened and remain impartial, non-partisan and professional during elections. Nigerian Customs Service and Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency should look out for unauthorized importation of electoral materials, prohibited drugs, arms and ammunition. The Nigerian Immigration Service should ensure that Nigeria’s porous borders are adequately manned by Joint Border Security Task Forces made up of patriotic and incorruptible personnel. Citizens of neighboring countries must not be allowed into Nigeria illegally to vote during the elections. The EFCC and ICPC should collectively monitor illicit financial transactions by politicians and their cronies while the Federal Road Safety Commission should monitor branded vehicles that may be used to deliver unauthorized electoral materials to wrong places, fake security and electoral officers and possession of lethal weapons. The Homeland Security Outfits should encouraged to ensure the safety and protection of lives and property of rural dwellers. Their officers and men must be positively motivated in the areas of regular promotions, provision of sophisticated weapons, modern communication gadgets, accommodation, transportation and payment of duty allowances. Security agencies must enforce restriction of movements of politicians to INEC offices and polling units with armed security details before,during and after the elections. Most importantly, the current situation whereby the executive arm of the government retires senior military and police officers prematurely or compulsorily, appoints their successors from junior ranks or elongates the service of officers due for retirement is discouraging, demoralizing and must be stopped forthwith because of its negative implications. Efforts should be made to disband and disarm all illegal security outfits, political thugs and herders before the general elections. To be able to discharge their respective duties effectively and efficiently before the elections, all the security agencies must be adequately funded and equipped to confront insecurity headlong in Nigeria. Security agencies and agents must not connive with the ruling political parties in states or facilitate the hijacking, diverting or tampering with election materials. They should shun financial inducements and temptation of being used to intimidate opposition political parties and aspirants at the polling units and collation centers. Nigerians should be security conscious at all times and be willing to assist security agencies and agents with intelligence gathering and dissemination. They should guard against false information or whistle blowing. On the other hand, the security agents and agencies must not abuse discreet and undiluted information from credible and impeccable sources. Most importantly, though it is generally believed that he who pays the piper dictates or calls the tunes, INEC Chairman and Resident Electoral Commissioners must resist executive interference and manipulation of the electoral process. All the Electoral Commissioners must be perpetually non-partisan, neutral,impartial, incorruptible and transparent. While INEC guards against technical glitches during uploading of election results, all the Resident Electoral Commissioners should be transferred from their present locations to other states before the general elections. The essence is to check connivance with anti-democracy Governors to manipulate the electoral process. The Licensed Telecon Operators of Nigeria and the Nigerian Society of Engineers must ensure uninterrupted electronic transmission of election results to INEC’s viewing portal on the election days. Public trust in INEC and Nigeria’s electoral process can only be restored if every vote counts and election results transmitted electronically in 2027. Anything short of this is a mockery of Nigeria’s electoral system.
