As Nigeria prepares for the 2027 general elections, concerns are mounting over the diversion of police personnel to political elites and private individuals, which could undermine public security and compromise the integrity of the polls.

A new policy report by the Nextier Social Policy and Development (SPD) initiative reveals that while the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has an estimated strength of about 371,800 officers for a population exceeding 236 million, more than 100,000 officers are reportedly assigned to protect politicians and high-profile figures.

Critics say this has created a dual-tier security system, where the powerful enjoy personalised protection while ordinary citizens face rising risks from kidnapping, banditry, and violent crime.

The report, authored by Dr. Chibuike Njoku, Associate Consultant at Nextier, and Dr. Ndu Nwokolo, Managing Partner at Nextier, notes that the imbalance is especially pronounced during election periods.

While police deployments are officially intended to secure voters, electoral officials, and polling infrastructure, in practice, they often prioritise senior politicians and officeholders.

Many communities, polling units, and collation centres are left inadequately protected, increasing the risk of voter intimidation and election-related violence.

According to the authors, the pattern reflects deeper challenges in Nigeria’s security governance. Heavy police presence around political figures contrasts sharply with weak security at known electoral flashpoints.

Beyond elections, concentrating officers around elites strains an already overstretched force tasked with addressing insurgency, communal violence, organised crime, and urban insecurity.

The report warns that ahead of 2027, heightened elite competition, intra-party conflicts, limited police capacity, shrinking civic space, and public perceptions of partiality could worsen deployment distortions, erode trust, depress voter turnout, and increase the likelihood of election violence.Weak oversight and accountability are also highlighted as major concerns.

Without transparent deployment criteria and effective sanctions for abuse, analysts caution that misuse of police resources during elections may continue unchecked.The policy brief recommends establishing clear public election-security guidelines, limiting police escorts for political officeholders, strengthening inter-agency coordination under INEC, enhancing oversight by civil society and election observers, mandating pre-election police training, and ensuring unhindered media access to monitor election security.

“The issue is not reducing election security, but rebalancing it,” the report notes. Police deployments, it says, should prioritise voters, electoral officials, and democratic processes rather than political privilege.