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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that artificial intelligence (AI) will not determine the outcome of the 2027 general elections, warning that deepfakes and other forms of digital manipulation could threaten voters’ ability to make informed choices.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum, organised in collaboration with Yiaga Africa.
Speaking on the theme, “Safeguarding the 2027 General Elections in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” Amupitan said the choice of Nigeria’s leaders must remain with the electorate.
“Algorithms will not, and must never, decide the 2027 vote,” he said.
He warned, however, that AI could influence the information voters receive, affect public trust and introduce new security challenges into election administration.
“The greatest threat we face is not the hacking of a ballot box, but the hacking of the voter’s mind,” the INEC chairman said.
INEC Warns Of AI-Generated Election Misinformation
Amupitan said generative AI had made it easier to produce convincing fake videos, audio recordings and messages that could mislead voters.
He warned that malicious actors could circulate fabricated videos of candidates, impersonate election officials or publish false announcements about candidate withdrawals and election postponements.
According to him, cloned voices and fake statements attributed to INEC officials, Resident Electoral Commissioners and security personnel could spread rapidly across social media platforms.
He said such misinformation could undermine confidence in the electoral process, particularly when voters struggle to distinguish authentic information from fabricated content.
Commission Establishes AI Unit
The INEC chairman disclosed that the commission had established an AI Unit within its Information and Communication Technology Directorate.
He said the unit would use digital monitoring tools, deepfake detection software and data analytics to identify technical threats and attempts to manipulate election-related information.
Amupitan also stated that critical electoral decisions would not be fully automated or delegated to autonomous systems.
He said human accountability, statutory oversight and judicial review would remain central to the electoral process.
According to him, AI tools used for logistics, database management and operational support would undergo rigorous audits to assess their explainability, fairness and security before deployment.
The commission is also developing a digital strategy to monitor the information environment and working with technology platforms to identify and label AI-generated content relating to elections.
AI Could Improve Election Logistics
Despite the risks, Amupitan said AI could improve election planning, administrative efficiency and electoral integrity.
He explained that geospatial analytics could help INEC plan the deployment of ad-hoc staff, vehicles, boats and sensitive election materials to 176,846 polling units before 7:30 a.m. on election day.
Such systems could analyse traffic patterns, weather forecasts, road conditions and security incidents to identify suitable routes.
He added that automated inventory systems could help forecast demand for non-sensitive materials and monitor warehouse stocks.
On election integrity, Amupitan said AI could support statistical checks on polling unit result sheets uploaded through the electronic EC8A process, flagging mathematical inconsistencies, unusual entry patterns and image-quality problems for administrative review.
He stressed that human collation would remain the statutory standard for declaring election results.
The commission could also use AI-enhanced biometric identification systems to identify possible duplicate facial and fingerprint records in the National Register of Voters, which he said contained more than 103 million records.
INEC Highlights Voter Education And Accessibility
Amupitan said natural language processing tools could translate voter education materials, polling unit information and Permanent Voter Card collection guidelines into indigenous languages.
He added that audio formats could improve access for visually impaired and low-literacy citizens.
AI tools could also help identify accessibility barriers affecting persons with disabilities, while threat-detection systems could strengthen the security of INEC’s digital platforms, including the INEC Result Viewing Portal and the Candidates Nomination Portal.
The chairman said these initiatives built on earlier technological reforms, including the Smart Card Reader, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the IReV portal.
He also disclosed that INEC had digitised candidate nominations, processed more than 15,000 nominations across 22 political parties and continued a decentralised, multi-phase PVC collection exercise.
According to him, additional BVAS units had been procured, with consignments already arriving.
INEC Seeks Cooperation From Technology Companies
The INEC chairman said protecting the 2027 elections required cooperation among election officials, technology companies, political parties, security agencies, civil society groups and the media.
He called on Meta, X, Google, TikTok and Telegram to act swiftly against unlabelled synthetic media impersonating candidates, election officials or security personnel.
He also urged the platforms to enforce disclaimers on political advertisements and restrict political micro-targeting based on ethnicity, religion or local origin.
Amupitan proposed expanding an Electoral Information Integrity Coalition involving INEC, civil society organisations, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, the Nigeria Fact-Checking Coalition, media organisations and telecommunications operators.
The proposed coalition would serve as an early-warning network for identifying and responding to viral AI-generated falsehoods.
He said INEC would also work with the National Orientation Agency, civil society and the media to promote AI media literacy and encourage voters to verify sensational claims before sharing them.
Political parties and candidates were urged to adopt an Ethical AI Code of Conduct against deepfakes, synthetic impersonation and automated bot networks.
INEC Reports Progress On 2027 Preparations
Amupitan said the 2027 general elections would involve more than 103 million registered voters across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
He also said 10 of the 14 major operational milestones under the Electoral Act 2026 had been completed.
The chairman called on security agencies to strengthen their cybercrime investigation and digital forensics capabilities, while urging the judiciary to prepare for disputes involving AI-generated evidence.
He also encouraged media organisations to establish digital forensic desks to verify user-generated content before publication.
“On election day in 2027, it will be the thumbprint of the Nigerian citizen, guided by their own will and their own hopes, that decides our future,” he said.
The two-day forum attracted representatives of African election management bodies, political parties, civil society organisations, security agencies, technology companies and the media.
Participants included ECONEC Chairperson and Senegal Electoral Commission Chairman Abdoulaye Sylla.
INEC Explains Omission Of Some Governorship Candidates
Meanwhile, INEC has explained why some candidates were omitted from the final list for the 2027 governorship elections, attributing the decision to a Supreme Court judgment delivered on September 24, 2026.
National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said the commission applied the judgment in finalising the list of governorship candidates.
According to Haruna, the ruling in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, Appeal No. SC/CV/495/2026, upheld the constitutionality of Section 77(5)–(7) of the Electoral Act 2026.
The provisions require political parties to submit their membership registers as a prerequisite for conducting valid party primaries.
Haruna said the Supreme Court also upheld INEC’s timetable requiring parties to submit their membership registers between April 21 and May 10, 2026.
He added that parties which failed to comply were ineligible to sponsor candidates in the governorship elections.
The commissioner explained that the final lists of presidential and National Assembly candidates had been published on September 12, 2026, before the Supreme Court delivered its judgment.
He further stated that, under Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, parties that believe their candidates were wrongly omitted have 14 days from publication to notify the commission.
According to INEC, the deadline for such notifications is October 24, 2026.
Haruna reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to transparency, the rule of law and the credibility of the electoral process.
