INEC warns Nigerians over use of AI to spread disinformation ahead of 2027 election

‎The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warned that the misuse of artificial intelligence to spread false information could threaten the credibility of the 2027 elections and advocated treating electoral technology and communication as a single, coordinated discipline.

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‎INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, SAN, revealed that the commission was conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems and considering a mock presidential election to test its readiness ahead of the polls.

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‎This was contained in a statement signed by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi.

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‎Amupitan spoke on Wednesday in Abuja in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by a National Commissioner, Sani Adam, SAN, at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria.

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‎The conference was themed, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication.”

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‎The INEC chair said the credibility of the electoral commission increasingly depended not only on the integrity of the ballot, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and result sheets, but also on how information about electoral processes was understood and trusted by voters. NewsInformation Service

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‎He said the commission’s decision to deploy BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal was aimed at addressing longstanding concerns over electoral transparency by enabling citizens to view polling-unit results before they are transferred to collation centres.

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‎“He, however, acknowledged that the 2023 General Election showed that such technology could become a source of public doubt when it underperformed, stressing that legitimacy is earned only when systems perform reliably, are well understood, and are explained honestly when they fall short,” the statement read.

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‎According to Amupitan, legitimacy could only be earned when electoral systems performed reliably, were properly understood by voters, and their shortcomings were honestly explained when they occurred.

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‎Speaking on the forthcoming 2027 election, he said that INEC was conducting an audit on its technology systems, including system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery plans.

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‎Amupitan said INEC was considering conducting a mock presidential election ahead of the 2027 polls to test voter accreditation, result transmission and result viewing under conditions similar to those on election day.

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‎Amupitan also drew attention to the growing threat posed by generative artificial intelligence, particularly its ability to create convincing synthetic audio, videos and images that could influence voters.

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‎He noted that advances in the technology had made the production of manipulated content both cheaper and harder to detect, with fabricated political material already emerging during recent electoral cycles in West and East Africa.

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‎He added that algorithmic microtargeting posed another challenge by allowing political actors to deliver tailored messages to narrowly defined groups of voters, including messages that could contradict one another.

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‎The INEC boss warned that such content could reach millions of social media users before fact-checkers or electoral authorities were able to verify it.

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‎“The danger lies not only in outright fabrication but also in algorithmic microtargeting, which allows conflicting messages to reach narrow segments of the electorate without a shared factual foundation,” he said.

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‎Amupitan also revealed that the commission had proposed a substantial budget for technology and election operations, “including new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged in the last cycle.”

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‎He said that INEC was still awaiting the full release of the funds but that its ICT team had already started interacting with manufacturers, while preparations for the technology audit and proposed mock election were proceeding alongside budget finalisation.

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‎Amupitan also outlined a five-point strategy for strengthening the commission’s response to emerging electoral communication challenges.

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‎The strategy includes integrating technology and communication planning, establishing a rapid-response mechanism to counter falsehoods within the same  news cycle, proactively communicating known vulnerabilities and safeguards, deepening collaboration with media scholars, fact-checkers and technology platforms, and investing continuously in public media literacy.

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‎He said the commission could no longer afford to regard technology and communication as separate components of election management.

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‎He called on media professionals, technology experts, scholars and other stakeholders to work with INEC to strengthen public understanding and trust in the electoral process before the 2027 elections.

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