The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun identifying electoral risks across Plateau’s 17 local government areas ahead of the 2027 general election to develop measures to address potential threats.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Samuel Egwu, disclosed this at an Electoral Risk Management Sensitisation Workshop held in Jos on Thursday.
The two-day workshop is aimed at strengthening preparations for peaceful, credible and inclusive elections.
Egwu said the workshop would help stakeholders identify potential threats, assess their implications and develop appropriate measures to prevent or minimise their impact on electoral activities.
“Nigeria’s complex ethnic and religious composition, unemployment, poverty, kidnapping and political manipulation of differences could contribute to electoral risks,” he said.
He warned that political elites sometimes exploited ethnic and religious identities for political gains, worsening tensions and creating conditions that could threaten peaceful elections.
The REC also identified public distrust of INEC, particularly perceptions of unfairness and fears that votes might not count, as factors capable of generating electoral tension.
He urged participants to use the workshop to examine the peculiar security and political challenges across all 17 local government areas and develop evidence-based strategies to address them.
The Administrative Secretary of INEC in Plateau, Mrs Mary Uloko, said successful elections required deliberate preparation, effective coordination and cooperation among institutions and individuals involved in the electoral process.
Uloko said the workshop would strengthen communication, promote a common understanding of electoral responsibilities and encourage coordinated responses to challenges ahead of the elections.
She urged participants to share experiences openly and sustain collaboration beyond the workshop, stressing that continuous stakeholder engagement was essential to strengthening public confidence in the electoral process.
Also speaking, the Director of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Mr Steve Aluko, said public confidence was essential to managing electoral risks and urged stakeholders to pay particular attention to result collation and transmission.
Aluko said civil society organisations remained committed to supporting peaceful elections, while calling on INEC and security agencies to address vulnerabilities associated with the collation and transmission of results.
Security agencies, INEC officials, civil society organisations, the media and political stakeholders participated in the workshop.
