The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to produce and circulate disinformation poses a serious threat to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
The commission also disclosed that it was conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology infrastructure and considering a mock presidential election to test its preparedness ahead of the polls.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, who raised the concerns on Wednesday in Abuja, said electoral technology and communication could no longer be treated as separate aspects of election management.
Amupitan spoke 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 (ACSPN).
The conference, themed, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication,” brought together media professionals, academics, technology experts and other stakeholders.
In a statement signed by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, the chairman said the credibility of the electoral process increasingly depended not only on the integrity of the ballot, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets, but also on how electoral information was understood and trusted by citizens.
He explained that the deployment of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was designed to address longstanding concerns over electoral transparency by enabling citizens to view polling-unit results before their movement to collation centres.
However, he acknowledged that the 2023 general elections demonstrated how technological failures could themselves fuel public suspicion and undermine confidence in the electoral process.
“Legitimacy is earned only when systems perform reliably, are well understood, and are explained honestly when they fall short,” he said.
On preparations for the 2027 elections, Amupitan said the commission was auditing its electoral technology systems, with particular attention to system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery mechanisms.
He added that INEC was considering a mock presidential election to test voter accreditation, result transmission and result viewing under conditions designed to replicate election-day realities.
The INEC chairman expressed particular concern over the emergence of generative AI, which, he said, had made it cheaper and increasingly easier to create synthetic audio, video and images capable of deceiving voters.
According to him, manipulated political content had already featured in recent electoral cycles in parts of West and East Africa, making the threat one that Nigeria could no longer afford to ignore.
He said the challenge extended beyond fabricated content to algorithmic microtargeting, through which political actors could deliver different, and even contradictory, messages to narrowly defined segments of the electorate.
“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.
Amupitan warned that AI-generated falsehoods could reach millions of social media users within minutes, potentially spreading faster than fact-checkers, journalists or electoral authorities could verify and debunk them.
He also disclosed that INEC had proposed a substantial budget for technology and election operations, including the procurement of new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged during the last electoral cycle.
The chairman said the commission was awaiting the full release of the funds, while its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) team had commenced engagements with manufacturers.
He added that preparations for the technology audit and proposed mock election were continuing alongside the budget finalisation process.
Amupitan outlined a five-point strategy for strengthening INEC’s response to emerging electoral communication challenges.
The strategy includes integrating technology and communication planning; establishing a rapid-response mechanism capable of countering 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.
He said INEC could no longer afford to regard technology and communication as separate components of election management.
The chairman therefore urged media professionals, technology experts, scholars, fact-checkers and other stakeholders to work closely with the commission to improve public understanding and strengthen trust in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 elections.