The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed foreboding over worsening insecurity in the country ahead of the 2027 elections warning that without a secure environment, the sovereign will of the people will not just be threatened but silenced.
The electoral umpire also expressed worry over declining voter turnout in successive elections, noting that it has implication for national stability.
Asserting that credible polls cannot exist without adequate national security while speaking at the 2nd Annual Lecture of the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Security Studies (AANISS), INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash O. Amupitan, senior advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) emphasised that elections and security must no longer be treated as separate concerns but as “two sides of the same coin of national stability.”
Prof. Amupitan warned that Nigeria was entering a sensitive phase following the release of the 2027 election timetable.
He noted that the scheduled presidential and National Assembly elections on January 16, 2027, as well as the governorship polls on February 6, 2027, now represent not just political milestones but what he described as “a security trigger.”
The INEC chairman identified a “sophisticated triad” of threats confronting Nigeria’s elections, which, according to him, included social media volatility, artificial intelligence-driven disinformation, and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).
Noting that these risks were further compounded by persistent logistical and security challenges such as insurgency and communal conflicts, the INEC boss warned that “Without a secure environment, the sovereign will of the people is not just threatened; it is silenced”.
Also raising concerns about declining voter turnout, he described it as a major risk to national stability.
He disclosed that participation has dropped sharply from 53 percent in 2011 to 26 percent in 2023, a trend he feared could create a vacuum for destabilising actors to exploit.
Prof. Amupitan highlighted the Commission’s deployment of technological tools such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) as critical safeguards against electoral fraud.
He, however, called for stronger collaboration among security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
Earlier in his welcome address, AANISS President Mike Ejiofor described the theme of the lecture, “Credible Elections and National Security in Nigeria,” as both timely and crucial, noting the absence of key security chiefs, including the National Security Adviser and the Inspector General of Police, which he attributed to pressing national emergencies.
The former DSS Director however, expressed optimism that they would participate in subsequent engagements.
Ejiofor commended the turnout of stakeholders from across government institutions, security agencies, and the electoral body, stressing the link between flawed elections and instability.
According to him, “When elections are credible, they confer legitimacy. When they are flawed, they breed discontent and insecurity”.
The event attracted top figures from the executive, legislature, judiciary, and the wider security community, underscoring what participants described as a unified commitment to protecting Nigeria’s democratic process ahead of the 2027 polls.