The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has unveiled measures to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) from manipulating Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, declaring that electoral decisions will remain under human control.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum 2026, organised in collaboration with Yiaga Africa.
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Speaking on the theme, “Safeguarding the 2027 General Elections in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” Amupitan said the commission had established an AI Unit within its Information and Communication Technology Directorate to monitor digital threats and detect deepfakes targeting the electoral process.
He said the unit was equipped with real-time digital monitoring tools, deepfake detection software and data analytics expertise to identify attempts to manipulate election-related information.
“Algorithms will not, and must never, decide the 2027 vote,” he declared, insisting that the choice of who leads Nigeria belongs exclusively to its citizens.
The INEC chairman warned that the growing use of generative AI had made it easier for malicious actors to produce convincing fake videos and audio recordings capable of misleading voters.
According to him, such content could falsely announce the withdrawal of candidates, changes to election dates or unauthorised instructions from electoral officials, potentially spreading across digital platforms within minutes.
“The greatest threat we face is not the hacking of a ballot box, but the hacking of the voter’s mind,” he said.
Amupitan assured Nigerians that no critical electoral decision, including result collation, voter accreditation and candidate qualification, would be fully automated or delegated to autonomous systems.
He added that AI tools deployed for logistics, database management and operational support would undergo rigorous audits to ensure transparency, fairness and security.
The commission, he said, was also developing a digital strategy to monitor the electoral information environment and working with technology platforms to facilitate the rapid identification and labelling of AI-generated content relating to elections.
Despite the risks, Amupitan said AI could improve election administration through better logistical planning, voter education, cybersecurity and the detection of irregularities in polling unit results.
He explained that AI-powered geospatial analytics could help the commission deploy personnel, vehicles, boats and sensitive election materials to 176,846 polling units before 7:30 a.m. on election day.
He also disclosed that AI could support parallel statistical audits of polling unit result sheets uploaded through the INEC Result Viewing Portal system, helping identify mathematical inconsistencies and unusual entry patterns for administrative review.
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The technology, he added, could strengthen the detection of duplicate facial and fingerprint records in the National Register of Voters, which contains more than 103 million records.
On election security, the chairman said AI-driven threat detection could help protect the commission’s digital platforms, including the INEC Result Viewing Portal and Candidates Nomination Portal, against cyberattacks.
He called on technology companies, including Meta, X, Google, TikTok and Telegram, to restrict the spread of unlabelled synthetic media impersonating candidates, electoral officials and security personnel.
Amupitan also proposed expanding an Electoral Information Integrity Coalition involving INEC, civil society organisations, media houses, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, fact-checking organisations and telecommunications operators to provide early warnings against AI-generated misinformation.
He urged political parties and candidates to sign an Ethical AI Code of Conduct committing them to avoid deepfakes, synthetic impersonation and automated networks designed to manipulate voters.
The chairman further called on media organisations to establish digital forensic desks to verify user-generated content before publication, while urging security agencies to strengthen their capacity to investigate cybercrime and digital manipulation within the rule of law.
He said the commission’s existing technological reforms, including the Smart Card Reader, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and INEC Result Viewing Portal, provided a foundation for further innovation in election administration.
Amupitan disclosed that INEC had processed more than 15,000 candidate nominations across 22 political parties and was implementing a decentralised, multi-phased Permanent Voter Card collection exercise nationwide.
He added that additional BVAS units had been procured, with consignments already being received.
According to him, the 2027 general elections would involve more than 103 million registered voters across 774 local government areas, making the exercise one of the largest democratic undertakings on the African continent.
He said 10 of the 14 major operational milestones under the Electoral Act 2026 had been successfully executed.
Emphasising the importance of public awareness, the INEC chairman said the commission would work with the National Orientation Agency, civil society groups and the media to incorporate AI media literacy into voter education.
He urged Nigerians to verify sensational election-related information before sharing it, stressing that public vigilance would be essential to protecting the credibility of the polls.
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“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 was attended by the Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States Network of Electoral Commissions and Chairman of the Senegal Electoral Commission, Abdoulaye Sylla, alongside INEC national commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners, political party representatives, civil society organisations, security agencies, technology firms and media practitioners.