Kaduna Stakeholders Demand 24-Hour Election Security Response, Early Warning System Ahead of 2027 By Raymond Enoch
Stakeholders in Kaduna State have demanded the immediate activation of a coordinated election security framework capable of detecting and responding to threats before, during and after the 2027 general elections.
The demand is contained in a Citizens’ Charter of Demands emerging from a two-day stakeholder engagement on election security organised by the CLEEN Foundation with support from the Open Society Foundations.
The Charter, obtained exclusively, calls for stronger coordination among the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties, traditional and community leaders, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to prevent electoral violence and protect citizens throughout the electoral cycle.
Rather than treating election security as an election-day responsibility, the stakeholders said Kaduna must adopt a prevention-based approach that addresses political tensions, communal conflicts, violent crime, misinformation, logistics challenges and other vulnerabilities that could undermine peaceful elections.
The stakeholders identified Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Kajuru, Kachia-Kagarko axis, Zangon Kataf and the wider Southern Kaduna interface, as well as the Giwa-Igabi corridor and major campaign gathering points in Kaduna metropolis, as areas requiring heightened and continuous monitoring.
However, the Charter cautioned against treating entire Local Government Areas as uniformly high-risk, recommending instead that security assessments should be conducted at ward, community, route, campaign venue and polling-unit levels based on verified evidence.
It proposed a Green, Amber and Red operational classification system to guide monitoring and contingency planning, stressing that such classifications must not result in discriminatory treatment of voters.
A major demand is the immediate strengthening of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, with an urgent situation room capable of tracking threats, locations, severity, affected populations, electoral relevance, responsible institutions and response status.
The stakeholders also called for a 24-hour escalation protocol for credible threats affecting voters, electoral officials, materials, campaign events and access routes.
They recommended the production of a weekly Electoral Security Situation Snapshot, followed by daily risk updates during the final week before polling.
On political campaigns, the Charter demanded that parties and candidates sign and publicly uphold peace commitments, while submitting campaign schedules early enough for conflict-sensitive risk assessments.
It further called for designated liaison officers for major political events, coordination between political parties and security agencies, advance planning of routes and crowd movement, and measures to prevent rival parties from holding major rallies in the same locality and time window where avoidable.
The stakeholders also warned political actors against inflammatory ethnic, religious, gender-based and community-based rhetoric, political thuggery, intimidation, destruction of property and the recruitment or mobilisation of young people for violent activities.
The Charter placed particular emphasis on protecting electoral logistics, arguing that security planning should not focus solely on polling units.
It called for route-level risk assessments covering movements from warehouses and Registration Area Centres to polling locations, alternative routes and contingency movement arrangements, as well as early validation of areas where insecurity, displacement or difficult terrain could affect the deployment and retrieval of electoral personnel and materials.
On community tensions, the stakeholders proposed a “containment before escalation” protocol under which any incident would immediately trigger an assessment of possible retaliatory mobilisation in interconnected communities.
Traditional, religious, women and youth leaders are expected to serve as trusted interlocutors, while rapid rumour-verification mechanisms would be established to prevent unverified casualty figures and identity-based claims from triggering reprisals.
The Charter also demanded stronger protection for women, young people, persons with disabilities and displaced populations, including accessible voter education, safe reporting mechanisms and referral pathways for vulnerable citizens.
Security agencies, according to the document, should provide proportionate protection around identified high-risk locations, campaign routes, transit corridors and electoral facilities, while protecting voters, candidates, observers and electoral officials without political discrimination.
The agencies were also urged to ensure that their operations comply with human rights standards and applicable laws.
The stakeholders assigned specific responsibilities to INEC, security agencies, political parties, traditional and community leaders, women and youth groups, CSOs and the media.
INEC is expected to strengthen communication with citizens and stakeholders, provide timely information on polling locations and logistics, improve mechanisms for electoral complaints, train election officials on conflict sensitivity and emergency procedures, and maintain transparent procedures for collation and the management of disputed results.
Political parties and candidates are expected to maintain internal mechanisms for resolving complaints, promote responsible digital communication and publicly discourage retaliation and violence after the announcement of results.
The media, meanwhile, is expected to verify security and electoral claims before publication and adopt conflict-sensitive reporting, while civil society organisations are tasked with independent monitoring, evidence-based advocacy, early warning, civic education and documentation of incidents.
The Charter further proposes a 72-hour post-election stabilisation window, during which enhanced monitoring would continue after polling, particularly where results are disputed or delayed.
During the period, stakeholders would monitor protests, rumours, competing victory claims, attacks on political opponents and threats to electoral facilities, while trusted communicators would provide public information on result-management procedures.
Under the proposed implementation framework, CLEEN Foundation would coordinate monthly reviews during the pre-election period, weekly risk reviews during the final six weeks before the 2027 elections, and daily incident and risk coordination during the final 72 hours before polling and the first 72 hours afterwards, subject to operational security considerations.
A post-election after-action review is also proposed within 30 days of the election to identify institutional gaps and lessons for subsequent electoral cycles.
The Charter proposes measurable indicators including the number of functional early-warning and early-response contacts, response times to credible alerts, campaign events covered by security plans, cross-community de-escalation interventions, verified election-security incidents, protected logistics routes and voter-protection initiatives reaching vulnerable populations.
The stakeholders stressed that the objective was not merely to prevent violence on election day, but to tackle the conditions that allow political and communal tensions to escalate into violence.
The engagement ended with the signing of a Peace Accord committing political parties, INEC and security agencies ,Religious leaders and Community leaders in attendance for a peaceful and non-violent conduct throughout the electoral process.
They described peaceful elections as a shared responsibility requiring sustained cooperation before, during and after polls.
Also signatories to the Charter were the representatives of the Nigeria Police Force, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and civil society, represented by Prof. Hauwa Yusuf, and was facilitated by the CLEEN Foundation with support from the Open Society Foundations.
