The Nigeria Police Force has adopted a comprehensive election security roadmap covering the entire electoral cycle as part of measures to strengthen preparations for the 2027 general elections. This is contained in the communique at the end of the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers (CARSPO 2026), which ended on Wednesday in Owerri, Imo State. The conference brought together senior police officers, experts, government officials, and representatives of key institutions to examine emerging security challenges ahead of the 2027 elections.
The conference, themed “Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections,” was attended by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma. The police will establish an election security task force with clearly assigned responsibilities, timelines, performance indicators, and monitoring mechanisms. The Force resolved to adopt a predictive and preventive framework using historical data, current intelligence, and post-election reviews.
The police will digitise relevant election-security data and maintain it in a secure central database. They will also accelerate the transition to smart, digital, and intelligence-led policing by standardising and digitising police processes, integrating relevant data systems, and deploying artificial intelligence for investigations, crime analysis, threat detection, and operational decision-making. However, technology will support, rather than replace, professional judgement and will be subject to data protection safeguards, supervisory review, and audit.
The conference called for adequate and timely funding of election-security operations, including logistics, personnel allowances, equipment, duty rotations, and transportation before, during, and after elections. Operational plans must prioritise the protection of voters, electoral officers, and election materials, particularly women, older persons, and persons with disabilities. The police also resolved to strengthen training and retraining of election-duty personnel on electoral laws, intelligence gathering, operational protocols, political neutrality, conflict prevention, crowd management, technology, and human rights.
Officers found guilty of partisan conduct during elections should be held accountable and appropriately sanctioned. Communication was also identified as an operational and leadership responsibility, with the Force resolving to ensure that police communication is timely, accurate, and based on verified information. INEC chairman, Joash Amupitan, said the police had made efforts to professionalise their conduct during recent elections but stressed that adequate funding remained critical.
Amupitan said Nigerians often expected elections to be conducted to perfection without sufficiently considering the cost of providing the necessary security and logistics. He asked if Nigerians were ready to play the part of ensuring that the police are able to play their part, their responsibility as the lead agency. The NBA president, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, pledged support for the police and other institutions to strengthen the electoral process, saying lawyers were prepared to work together to address problems and provide solutions.
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, hosted the police leadership, facilitators, and other participants to a dinner in Owerri, providing an opportunity for interaction among senior police officers, government officials, and participants. The conference was organised by the Nigeria Police Force in conjunction with Lenders Consult International, and the IGP commended the organisers for their role in putting the conference together.
Key points
- The Nigeria Police Force has adopted a comprehensive election security roadmap to strengthen preparations for the 2027 general elections.
- The police will establish an election security task force and digitise relevant election-security data.
- The conference called for adequate and timely funding of election-security operations and strengthened training for election-duty personnel.
