The Federal Government said its primary objective is to safeguard the sanctity and integrity of the nation’s electoral activities.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, at quarterly meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in Abuja on Friday, assured that ICCES will, among other things, intensify intelligence efforts to monitor and pre-empt any threat to every electoral activity and provide real-time intelligence to enable the implementation of proactive measures.

“This is especially in states that are infested with recalcitrant subversive non-state actors who could be exploited by desperate politicians to undermine the elections,” he said.

The NSA who was represented at the meeting, warned political actors and their supporters to conduct themselves with decorum and respect for the democratic process, “as any form of electoral violence and malpractices has no place in our elections.”

He however stated that the ICCES will
maintain dialogue with the leadership of political parties and candidates to foster understanding and reduce tensions, noting that “engagement with these stakeholders has proven effective in the past and should remain a priority.”

Mallam Ribadu assured of the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring free, fair, and secure elections, and charged security agencies to ensure that eligible voters exercise their right to vote without fear or intimidation.

“In this regard, we will strengthen collaboration between security and law enforcement agencies to quickly address potential threats and challenges during the elections,” he promised.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had earlier disclosed that the commission had in the next six months, scheduled a number of elections and electoral activities, three of which require security deployment.

These activities, according to Prof. Yakubu are, the conduct of bye-elections to fill vacancies in 16 constituencies across 12 states and 32 Local Government Areas; the off-cycle governorship election in Anambra State scheduled for November 8, as well as nationwide continuous voter registration (CVR) beginning on August 18.

He stated that although the security situation in Anambra State is “calmer than what it was on the eve of the last governorship election four years ago, I urge you to use the CVR to finetune your preparations for securing the forthcoming elections.”

The INEC Chairman further called on the security agencies “to make adequate and proactive arrangements for the protection of personnel and assets to be deployed by the commission and all stakeholders for these activities.

“There are some specific areas of security concern raised at our consultative meetings with political parties, civil society organisations and the media earlier this week.

“These concerns will be presented to you for your necessary action at this meeting.”