The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (retd.), has identified cyber attacks as the biggest emerging threat to the security of Nigeria’s elections, warning that election-related security challenges are increasingly shifting from the physical space to cyberspace.
Musa gave the warning on Tuesday in his keynote address at the 8th edition of the Blueprint Newspapers Public Lecture/Impact and Awards, held under the theme, “Security Challenges and Integrity of Nigeria’s 2027 Elections.”
The minister, who was represented at the event by his Special Adviser on Policy and Research, Major General Olufemi Akinjobi (Retd.), said rapid advances in digital technology had fundamentally altered the information environment.
He noted that while artificial intelligence and other digital innovations offered significant opportunities for development, governance and innovation, they had simultaneously exposed societies to new forms of vulnerability.
“The greatest threat to an election today may not necessarily be the individual carrying a weapon near a polling unit.
“It may well be the anonymous actor operating behind a computer screen, deliberately manipulating information, exploiting social divisions and attempting to weaken confidence in democratic institutions.
“This is why election security must now extend beyond physical protection to include cyber resilience, strategic communication and the defence of truth itself,” he said.
Musa said the traditional understanding of election security as the protection of polling centres was no longer sufficient, stressing that the central objective must be the preservation of democratic legitimacy.
He pointed to the growing ability of modern technologies to produce realistic fake videos, cloned voices and altered images, warning that such content could reach and mislead millions of people within a short period.
“Today, sophisticated technologies can generate convincing but entirely fabricated videos, cloned voices and manipulated images capable of misleading millions of people within minutes.
“Across different parts of the world, we have already witnessed elections influenced by coordinated misinformation campaigns, cyber interference and malicious digital content designed to erode public confidence. Africa is not immune. Neither is Nigeria,” he said.
Despite the emerging threats, the defence minister commended Nigeria for sustaining and defending its democratic institutions since the restoration of democratic rule in 1999.
He maintained that the changing nature of election threats required a corresponding transformation in the country’s preparedness and response mechanisms.
According to him, preparations for the 2027 general elections should extend beyond the immediate demands of election day and become a broader national effort to strengthen democratic resilience.
“It must become a national project aimed at strengthening democratic resilience, the capacity of institutions to withstand pressure without compromising their constitutional responsibilities, the ability of citizens to reject misinformation without abandoning trust, and the confidence that, regardless of political affiliation, every Nigerian can participate in the democratic process safely and freely,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, called for early and comprehensive preparations to protect the security and credibility of the 2027 elections.
Yilwatda said election-related threat assessments should take into account a broad range of risks, including banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, communal clashes, disinformation, cyber attacks, vote buying and the recruitment of young Nigerians for political violence.
He stressed that preparations should commence well ahead of the political campaign season, rather than waiting until campaign activities and posters dominate public spaces.
The APC chairman listed intelligence gathering, conflict mapping, effective policing, border security, responsible political communication, credible institutions, transparent electoral technology and the prosecution of electoral offenders among the key measures that should receive early attention.