Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), has cautioned security agencies against relying on last-minute deployments to safeguard elections, stressing that effective security requires months of intelligence-led planning and coordination.

Delivering a keynote address at the Blueprint newspaper seminar on security in Abuja on Tuesday, Musa said election security must be treated as a continuous process rather than an event limited to election day.

“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,” he said.

The minister highlighted the evolving nature of threats, noting that dangers now extend beyond physical violence at polling units to include cyberattacks, misinformation, economic hardship, and the exploitation of ethnic and religious divisions.

He warned that anonymous online actors manipulating information could pose greater risks to electoral integrity than armed individuals at polling stations.

Musa outlined a six-pillar framework for strengthening election security:Strategic Intelligence intelligence-led planning, threat assessments, and real-time information sharing.

Digital Infrastructure Protection — safeguarding electoral systems and communication networks against cyber intrusions.

Civil-Military Coordination — collaboration among agencies without rivalry.

Unified Strategic Communication — timely, coordinated messaging to counter misinformation.

Responsible Information Environment — shared responsibility among government, media, tech firms, and civil society to combat false narratives.

Engaged Citizens — active public participation in safeguarding democracy.

Former Zamfara State Governor AbdulAziz Yari also spoke at the seminar, urging politicians not to exploit insecurity for political gain. 

He stressed that tackling insecurity is a collective responsibility that transcends party politics and successive administrations.

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