The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd.), has warned security agencies against relying on last-minute deployments to secure elections, saying effective election security requires months of intelligence-led planning and coordination.
Musa stated this on Tuesday while delivering the keynote address at a security seminar organised by Blueprint newspaper.
The minister said election security should not be treated as an activity limited to election day, but as a continuous process that begins well ahead of campaigns and continues after the votes have been counted.
“The lesson is clear: successful election security is not achieved through last-minute deployments. It is achieved through months of planning, intelligence-led operations, inter-agency coordination, effective communication and continuous assessment of emerging threats and, above all, through the confidence that citizens place in the institutions established to serve them,” he said.
“Security should never be viewed as an event. It is a process that begins long before campaigns commence and continues long after the final vote has been counted.”
Musa said the changing nature of security threats meant that preparations for elections must extend beyond the physical protection of polling units.
He identified cyberspace, misinformation, economic hardship and the manipulation of ethnic and religious divisions as emerging threats capable of undermining the electoral process.
According to him, the greatest threat to an election’s integrity may no longer come from an armed individual at a polling unit, but from an anonymous actor operating online to manipulate information and erode public confidence.
The minister also proposed a six-pillar framework for strengthening election security, with civil-military coordination identified as the third pillar.
He stressed the need for security agencies to work together without institutional rivalry, saying effective coordination and joint planning were critical to managing national emergencies and major public events.
“The constitutional roles of all security agencies must continue to be respected, while strengthening coordination, interoperability and joint planning,” Musa said.
He added that experience had shown that seamless collaboration, rather than institutional competition, produced better outcomes during national emergencies and major public events.
Musa’s comments come amid preparations for future electoral exercises, with security agencies facing growing challenges from conventional and emerging threats, including the use of digital platforms to spread misinformation and influence public perception.
The minister urged security institutions to adopt a proactive approach to election security by strengthening intelligence gathering, coordination and threat assessment well ahead of polling day.
