Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu has called for enhanced intelligence sharing and operational collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to secure the 2027 general elections.
The IGP made the call during a visit by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, to the police high command. The meeting focused on establishing a more integrated security framework to mitigate risks and prevent violence during the upcoming electoral cycle.
The partnership aims to synchronise the ground-level intelligence capabilities of the police with the aerial surveillance and reconnaissance strengths of the air force. This synergy is intended to provide a comprehensive security umbrella across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory during the voting process.
The call for closer ties comes as Nigeria begins early strategic planning for the 2027 polls. Historical data from previous general elections indicates that coordinated inter-agency communication is critical in reducing voter intimidation, managing crowd control, and responding rapidly to security breaches in remote areas.
Inter-agency Synergy and Election Security
The Nigeria Police Force serves as the primary agency for maintaining law and order during elections, but the scale of the task often requires support from the military. By integrating NAF’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, the NPF can gain real-time data on troop movements or potential flashpoints that are not easily visible from the ground.
The decision to strengthen these ties followed discussions between the police high command and the air staff on the necessity of a proactive rather than reactive security posture. This approach is designed to identify threats before they manifest into open conflict during the polling period.
Operational collaboration typically involves shared communication channels and joint briefings. In previous cycles, the lack of seamless data exchange between different security arms has occasionally led to delayed response times and coordination gaps. The current initiative seeks to eliminate these frictions by establishing formal protocols for the exchange of actionable intelligence.
Beyond surveillance, the collaboration is expected to cover logistical support, including the rapid deployment of security personnel to volatile regions using air transport. This capacity is particularly vital in the North-East and North-West zones, where terrain and existing insurgency challenges complicate ground movement.
The NPF and NAF are expected to develop a joint operational framework that outlines specific roles and responsibilities for the 2027 cycle. This framework will likely be integrated into the broader national security plan managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The two agencies are now tasked with creating a technical committee to oversee the implementation of these intelligence-sharing protocols and conduct joint simulations ahead of the election window.
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