Abstract:

Election is a democratic mechanism that measures and reflects the political will of the people. Ideally, the election ought to be a peaceful process of leadership recruitment and succession. However, given the nature of the Nigerian state and the character of its politics, elections in the country often result in violence. The violence takes different forms and is mostly targeted at stakeholders like members of the opposition, election officials, electoral materials, and public and private infrastructures. Worse still, the electoral violence compromises the integrity and credibility of the outcome of electoral contests. Considering this, the study examines the role of security agents in protecting Nigeria’s electoral processes. The study explains security as the state of being protected from harm. To this end, it treats electoral security as keeping electoral processes safe and protected from harm. It argues that security agents play vital roles in safeguarding electoral officers and critical stakeholders as well as sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials. It further notes that security agents maintain the sanctity of elections by ensuring adequate security throughout the electoral cycle: pre-election, Election Day, and post-election phases. Given this, the study recommends that security agents who are deployed on election duties should be trained and retrained as the needs arise. They should also receive lectures on democratic culture, civilian policing, and electoral ethics.