Defence minister warns against last-minute deployments for election security

Nigeria's Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, has issued a stern warning to security agencies, cautioning them against relying on last-minute deployments to ensure election security. He emphasized that successful election security is not an event but a continuous process that demands meticulous, intelligence-led planning and coordination spanning several months.

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The lesson is clear: successful election security is not achieved through last-minute deployments. It is achieved through months of planning, intelligence-led operations, inter-agency coordination, effective communication and continuous assessment of emerging threats and, above all, through the confidence that citizens place in the institutions established to serve them.

Speaking at a Blueprint newspaper seminar on security, Musa asserted that election security preparations must commence long before campaigns begin and extend beyond the final vote count. He highlighted the evolving nature of security threats, which now extend beyond physical protection to include cyberspace, misinformation, economic hardship, and the manipulation of ethnic and religious divisions. The minister cautioned that the most significant threat to election integrity might originate from anonymous online actors rather than individuals with weapons at polling stations.

Musa proposed a comprehensive six-pillar framework to bolster election security. The first pillar, "Strategic Intelligence," should form the bedrock of planning, advocating for intelligence-led operations, threat assessments, early warning systems, and real-time information sharing among security, intelligence, and electoral bodies. He stressed that modern election security must be proactive rather than reactive.

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Security should never be viewed as an event. It is a process that begins long before campaigns commence and continues long after the final vote has been counted.

The second pillar focuses on "Digital Infrastructure Protection," recognizing the increasing reliance on technology in elections. Electoral systems, communication networks, and information platforms must be safeguarded against cyber intrusions, digital sabotage, and malicious interference. The third pillar is "Civil-Military Coordination," underscoring the necessity for collaboration among security agencies while respecting their constitutional roles and enhancing interoperability and joint planning.

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Modern election security must be intelligence-led rather than incident-driven, with threat assessments, early warning systems and real-time information sharing among security, intelligence and electoral institutions.