The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Oluwafemi Oluyede, has stated that the police will remain the lead agency for election security in Nigeria. He made this remark at the opening of the sixth edition of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers in Owerri, Imo State. The conference had the theme "Developing a Nigeria Police Road Map for Effective Management of Security During Elections". Gen. Oluyede emphasized the importance of a coherent security framework to protect democratic processes and citizens' rights.
Gen. Oluyede, represented by Maj.-Gen. Oluremi Fadairo, noted that no single security institution can address Nigeria's complex security challenges alone. He stressed that success will depend on intelligence sharing, mutual trust, and unified planning among agencies. The CDS also mentioned that the Armed Forces will continue to support the Police Force in ensuring that elections in the country are violence-free. He urged participants to develop practical recommendations for improving election security management and public trust in democratic institutions.
Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu, revealed that the NPF has concluded threat analyses of every state and local government area to contain violent crimes and pre-election violence ahead of the next polls. He said the police have done their pre-training and plans are underway for the election. Disu also mentioned that the police will deploy Artificial intelligence during the elections and are training officers in the cybercrime unit to counter misinformation and identify deepfakes.
Disu expressed confidence that the police cybercrime section will contain attempts by bad actors to deploy deliberate misinformation and manipulated images or videos to sway the outcome of the coming elections. He added that priority will be given to deploying personnel to verify claims quickly and give the public accurate information. The IGP also revealed that three rounds of training have already been conducted for middle-cadre and junior police officers on AI-related offences.
The IGP vowed to end impunity and extortion at checkpoints, saying teams have been deployed covertly in response to allegations by farmers and truckers. According to him, statistics from the Police CRU show a reduction in public complaints against officers. He urged the public to route their complaints through CRU's contact numbers that were recently circulated by the Police.
The conference was commended by the IGP, who described it as a platform for strengthening leadership and professional capacity among senior officers. Gen. Oluyede urged participants to use the platform to develop practical recommendations for improving election security management and public trust in democratic institutions.
The Nigeria Police Force is set to begin training police officers and other organisations involved in election security after the workshop. The IGP said the police are prepared for the election and have a plan in place. He also mentioned that a "sizable number" of officers are currently undergoing further training on artificial intelligence outside the country, which will bring about changes in the operations of the Nigeria Police Force.
Key points
- The police will remain the lead agency for election security in Nigeria.
- The Nigeria Police Force has concluded threat analyses of every state and local government area to contain violent crimes and pre-election violence.
- The police will deploy Artificial intelligence during the elections to counter misinformation and identify deepfakes.
