By HENRY NNAM

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun identifying electoral risks across Plateau’s 17 local government areas ahead of the 2027 general election with a view to profiling solutions.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Samuel Egwu, said this at an Electoral Risk Management Sensitisation Workshop held in Jos on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop is aimed at strengthening preparations for peaceful, credible and inclusive elections.

Egwu said the two-day workshop would help stakeholders to be aware of potential threats, assess their implications and develop appropriate measures to prevent or minimise their impact on electoral activities.

“The Nigeria’s complex ethnic and religious composition, unemployment, poverty, kidnapping and political manipulation of differences could contribute to electoral risks.” he said.

He warned that political elites sometimes exploited ethnic and religious identities for political gains, thereby worsening tensions and creating conditions capable of threatening peaceful elections.

The REC also identified public distrust of INEC, particularly perceptions of unfairness and fears that votes might not count, as factors capable of generating electoral tension.

Egwu urged participants to use the workshop to examine the peculiar security and political challenges across all local government areas and develop evidence-based strategies for addressing them.

Mrs Mary Uloko, the Administrative Secretary of INEC in Plateau said successful elections required deliberate preparation, effective coordination and cooperation among institutions and individuals involved in the electoral process.

Uloko said the workshop would strengthen communication, promote a common understanding of electoral responsibilities and encourage coordinated responses to challenges ahead of the elections.

She urged participants to share experiences openly and sustain collaboration beyond the workshop, stressing that continuous stakeholder engagement was essential to strengthening public confidence in the electoral process.

Mr Steve Aluko, Director Civil Liberties Organisations (CLO), said public confidence was essential to managing electoral risks and urged stakeholders to pay particular attention to result collation and transmission.

Aluko said civil society organisations remained committed to supporting peaceful elections, while calling on INEC and security agencies to address vulnerabilities associated with the collation and transmission of results.

NAN reports that Security agencies, INEC officials, civil society organisations, the media and political stakeholders were participants in the workshop. (NAN)