Stopping cross-border arms flows key to secure 2027 polls, says IGP

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to guarantee citizens and the media access to polling unit (PU) result sheets during the 2027 general elections.

He argued that the public had a constitutional right to scrutinise and lawfully publish electoral information.

To safeguard the 2027 general elections process and results, the Inspector-General of Police(IGP) Olatunji Disu, yesterday, declared open the Small Arms and Light Weapons Identification and Tracing (SALW-IT) simulation programme in Abuja, describing the disruption of illicit arms supply across borders as central to election security.

In a letter addressed to INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, Agbakoba said transparent access to electoral records would strengthen public confidence in the electoral process and help address concerns over the recording, transmission, collation and declaration of votes.

He urged the commission to ensure timely publication of verified polling-unit results on its INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), clarify the distinction between reporting election results and formally declaring them, and provide clear guidance on responsible electoral reporting.

Agbakoba, who cited Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, said freedom of expression includes the right to receive and impart information without interference.

He argued that INEC’s statutory authority to declare election results should not be interpreted as a prohibition against citizens, journalists, political parties and election observers reporting figures contained in authentic electoral records.

“While INEC retains its exclusive statutory responsibility for the formal declaration of results, nothing in that responsibility should be understood as prohibiting citizens or the media from reporting results that have been publicly announced at polling units or from publishing information contained in authentic INEC electoral records (Forms EC8A – EC8E), provided that such reporting is accurate and does not misrepresent the official records,” he said.

According to him, citizens who accurately report figures from authentic PU result sheets do not assume INEC’s statutory responsibilities; rather, they participate in the public scrutiny of the electoral process.

On the IReV portal, Agbakoba said public access would have limited value if citizens could view uploaded result sheets but were discouraged or prohibited from discussing, analysing or reporting the figures they contained.

The five-day SALW-IT simulation, running from October 12 to 16, 2026, brings together participants from Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Libya, Benin and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is designed to strengthen their capacity to identify, mark, register and trace small arms, light weapons and ammunition, combining technical instruction with practical simulations at the Nigeria Police Simulation Centre.

The IGP stressed that small arms and light weapons are among the most potent drivers of electoral violence. He noted that illicitly acquired weapons are used to intimidate voters, harass political opponents, disrupt polling and attack electoral personnel and materials, undermining public confidence in the democratic process.

Many of these weapons, he said, enter the country through porous borders and trafficking routes that no single nation can close alone.

Effective weapons tracing, he explained, enables investigators to uncover trafficking networks, financiers and supply routes, allowing targeted action against those who arm criminals and political thugs.

The IGP observed that the same weapons also fuel terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and organised crime across Africa, making the proliferation of illicit arms a major threat to continental peace and security.

He commended the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPL), the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), INTERPOL, relevant African Union entities and experts from the German Armed Forces Verification Centre for their support. He urged participants to share operational experiences, build lasting professional relationships and apply the knowledge gained in their home countries.