The Independent National Electoral Commission has raised concerns over the growing use of artificial intelligence to spread false information ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
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INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, said AI-generated content could create serious problems for the credibility of the elections by making false political information easier to produce and harder for voters to identify.
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Amupitan spoke in Abuja on Wednesday through National Commissioner Sani Adam at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria.
The conference focused on the impact of media and technology on elections and the changing nature of political communication in Africa.
The INEC chairman said the credibility of elections depended not only on the voting process, accreditation devices and result sheets but also on the quality of information available to voters.
He said technologies such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal were introduced to improve transparency and allow voters to access polling-unit results before they were moved to collation centres.
However, he acknowledged that the 2023 elections showed how technology could also create public concerns when systems failed to perform as expected. He said electoral technology must therefore be reliable, properly understood and accompanied by clear communication when problems occur.
As part of its preparations for the 2027 elections, INEC is carrying out a broad review of its electoral technology systems. The exercise includes checking system backups, conducting penetration tests and reviewing disaster recovery arrangements.
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The commission is also considering a mock presidential election to assess its preparedness before the actual polls. The proposed exercise would test voter accreditation, electronic transmission of results and public access to results under conditions similar to election day.
Amupitan said the increasing availability of generative AI had created a new challenge for election management. The technology can now be used to produce convincing fake audio recordings, videos and images that may appear genuine to voters.
He noted that the danger was not limited to completely fabricated content. Political actors could also use AI-powered systems to target small groups of voters with different messages, making it possible for conflicting claims to circulate among different sections of the electorate.
Such content, he warned, could spread rapidly across social media and reach large numbers of people before fact-checkers or election officials could establish whether the information was genuine.
INEC is also planning to increase spending on election technology and operations, including the replacement of accreditation devices that were lost or damaged during the previous election cycle. The commission is awaiting the full release of the funds, while its ICT officials have started discussions with manufacturers.
The INEC chairman proposed a five-part approach to dealing with emerging communication challenges. The plan includes combining technology and communication planning, creating a rapid system for responding to false information, explaining known weaknesses and protective measures to the public, strengthening cooperation with media experts and technology platforms, and improving public media literacy.
Amupitan said INEC could no longer treat technology and communication as separate areas of election management.
He called for greater cooperation among the commission, journalists, technology experts, researchers, fact-checkers and other stakeholders to ensure that voters receive accurate information and have greater confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 elections.
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