The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Division as part of its preparations for the 2027 General Election, while warning Nigerians about the growing threat of deepfakes, fake voices and doctored election results.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a World Press Conference and National Stakeholders’ Meeting marking 100 days to the first ballot.
Amupitan said the Commission’s AI operations would be subject to mandatory human oversight, as INEC moves to strengthen its use of technology in the electoral process.
He also announced a six-day stress test of all configured Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices from October 23 to 28, followed by a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November.
The INEC Chairman warned that generative AI, voice cloning and deepfake videos could be used to fabricate the voices of election officials and manipulate result sheets, potentially misleading voters and undermining confidence in the election.
He urged media organisations to establish fact-checking desks and verify election-related information with INEC before publication, warning them against announcing privately collated results.
“In national elections, it is far more important to be right than to be first,” Amupitan said.
On overall preparations, the INEC Chairman said the Commission had moved from planning to execution, with election materials in production, technology undergoing quality assurance and personnel training underway.
He said nine of the 14 statutory milestones in the revised election timetable had been completed, while the Continuous Voter Registration exercise produced 10,772,421 new voters, bringing the national register to about 103 million.
The voter register will be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, while distribution of Phase 1 Permanent Voter Cards to Local Government centres will begin on October 9.
INEC also said production of 57,000 new BVAS devices was advanced, while arrangements had been made to mobilise more than 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats for election logistics.
The Commission will require 707,384 ad hoc personnel for each of the two election days, with recruitment ongoing through its election staff portal.
On security, Amupitan said INEC would work with security agencies and financial crime authorities to tackle vote-buying, while joint monitoring and surveillance teams would be deployed ahead of the polls.
The 2027 presidential election is scheduled for January 16, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on February 6.
