The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has disclosed that the commission has commenced the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to identify discrepancies and administrative errors in election results as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan made the disclosure at the 24th All Nigeria Editors Conference held in Enugu, where he also raised concerns about the growing threat of AI-generated disinformation to Nigeria’s electoral process.
According to him, the commission is strengthening safeguards against emerging forms of electoral manipulation, including fake result sheets, cloned voices of electoral officials, fabricated videos and forged documents generated through artificial intelligence.
He warned that the danger of synthetic disinformation extends beyond misleading voters, noting that widespread circulation of convincing fake content could undermine public trust in authentic election results.
To address the challenge, Amupitan said INEC has established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department and developed an AI Roadmap and Governance Framework anchored on transparency, accountability, cybersecurity, data protection and human oversight.
He explained that intelligent AI tools are now being integrated into the commission’s results management process to automatically scan election records and flag discrepancies before final validation.
“Technology must complement, rather than replace constitutional institutions. AI must strengthen electoral integrity, improve public service and always remain under human control. Every automated result check remains strictly subject to human auditing and legal verification,” he said.
The INEC chairman further disclosed that the commission has engaged technology giants Microsoft and Google on cybersecurity resilience, cloud infrastructure protection and threat mitigation. He added that discussions with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) have focused on technical capacity building, risk management and responsible AI deployment ahead of the elections.
Amupitan cautioned that deepfakes and other forms of synthetic content could create false impressions of electoral fraud before legitimate results are collated.
“The primary danger of synthetic disinformation is not merely that it tricks citizens into believing a specific falsehood, but it causes the systemic destruction of public trust. When everything can be faked, citizens begin to doubt genuine, verified facts provided by constitutional authorities,” he said.
He cited potential threats such as fabricated videos of electoral officials announcing false results, cloned audio recordings of resident electoral commissioners allegedly directing electoral manipulation, forged election postponement notices and doctored result sheets circulated immediately after voting.
Drawing lessons from the recent Osun State governorship election, Amupitan said 3,556 of the state’s 3,763 polling units, representing 94.5 per cent, commenced accreditation and voting before 8:30 a.m., while INEC deployed 5,130 BVAS devices, including 1,328 backup units.
He noted, however, that the scale of the 2027 general elections would present a much bigger challenge since the exercise would be conducted across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Osun was a single-state exercise. The 2027 elections will be conducted nationwide. The statutory timeline is fixed, and the clock is ticking,” he said.
Amupitan also urged journalists and media organisations to prioritise accuracy over speed in election reporting, stressing that the media remains a critical barrier against the spread of false information.
He called on newsrooms to establish fact-checking desks and adopt deepfake detection software, digital verification tools and forensic image analysis technologies to safeguard the integrity of election coverage.
The INEC chairman further reminded editors that only the commission has the constitutional authority to declare election results and appealed for restraint against premature declarations.
