The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has reassured Nigerians that the armed forces and other security agencies are ready to provide a safe and secure environment for the 2023 general elections.
Irabor spoke shortly after the meeting with service chiefs and heads of their security agencies on Monday in Abuja.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to review the election security and develop action plans to ensure that the elections were held under a peaceful atmosphere.
At the meeting held behind closed-door are the Inspector-General of Police, Director-Generals of the Department of State Services and National Intelligence Agency as well as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
Irabor stated that the security agencies were also ready to ensure that the elections would be held in a peaceful atmosphere in every part of the country, adding that they would ensure that all Nigerians exercise their franchise.
“We have just finished the meeting. The service chiefs, the Inspector General, the Police, the DSS, represented by the Director of operations, the DG, the NIA, and the CDI.
“Looking at the security for the elections and as you know, the police are the lead agency for elections security, and we have compared notes and assessed the entire situation and we are good to go.
“The assessment is that we are set on all fronts.
“We had representation from the Independent National Electoral Commission who of course you have interacted with, who has also told Nigerians and the world that they are ready for this election.
“So, by and large, we are good to go and I like to use the opportunity to assure Nigerians that on the security front, we are good to go on all fronts,”.
He also that contingency actions had been taken to into consideration to address the areas with peculiar security challenges.
The Defence boss, however, warned those intending to cause trouble during the elections to have a rethink “because they will have a bloody nose”.
