Politics
Group Protests Military Involvement In Election
Impact Future Nigeria (IFN), a pro-democracy group, yesterday staged a peaceful protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over ‘militarisation’ of the 2019 general elections.
Members of the group marched on some roads in the FCT, carrying placards with different inscriptions, thereafter, proceeded to the U.S. Embassy to express their concerns to the international community.
Some of the inscriptions read: “Our democracy is in danger’’, “Stop using Army in our elections’’, among others.
According to the group, involvement of military in elections is a threat to Nigerian nascent democracy which must be brought to the attention stakeholders, including the diplomatic community.
The Convener of IFN, Miss May Ubekusaid that the protest was part of efforts to ensure that the Governorship and States House of Assembly polls slated for March 9 were not militarised.
”We are gathered here today to draw the attention of all Nigerians and lovers of democracy across the world, especially the U. S. to the danger of militarilisation of our polls.
“Peaceful elections without intimidation of citizens are essential to Nigeria’s stability, and that is why we are calling on the international community to urge the Federal Government not to involve the military in our elections.
“It is pertinent to note that the Nigerian Army, saddled with the responsibility of protecting our territorial integrity and ensure peace, has decided to take sides in elections.
“In the last presidential and national assembly polls, there were alleged clear cases of molestations and intimidations of voters to favour a particular party.
“This posses a great danger to our hard earned democracy as the army has become a willing tool for any ruling government to use during elections,” she said.
Ubeku therefore read out the group’s requests as captioned in a letter to the U.S. President, Donald Trump through its embassy in Abuja.
She expressed fears that the alleged military involvement in polls could lead to voter apathy, especially during the March 9 elections, which is “capable of posing big threats to credible electioneering process.”
“We are simply saying that the U.S. and other models of democracy should urge the Federal Government for our security agencies to remain non-partisan to avoid voter apathy during the next elections.
“The Nigeria military is a revered and independent institution that must act responsibly without any interference from vested interests and anti-democratic forces that are bent on truncating our young democracy.
“We have Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges facing us as a nation, therefore, the army should focus on tackling that,” Ubeku said.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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