2027 POLL: INEC FEARS RISING AI-POWERED DISINFORMATION
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By:Tajudeen Aminat
The Independent National Electoral Commission has raised concerns over the growing use of artificial intelligence to spread disinformation, warning that the development could threaten the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), said electoral technology and communication could no longer be treated as separate aspects of election management, stressing the need for an integrated approach ahead of the polls.
Amupitan disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by an INEC National Commissioner, Sani Adam (SAN), at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria.
The conference was themed, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication.”
According to a statement signed by INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, Amupitan said the credibility of the electoral process depended not only on the integrity of the ballot, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and result sheets, but also on how electoral information was communicated and trusted by voters.
He noted that the deployment of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal was designed to improve transparency by allowing citizens to access polling-unit results before their movement to collation centres.
However, he acknowledged that the 2023 general election demonstrated how electoral technology could become a source of public distrust when systems failed to perform as expected.
Amupitan stressed that public confidence could only be sustained when electoral systems functioned reliably, voters understood how they worked, and any shortcomings were transparently communicated.
On preparations for the 2027 elections, the INEC chairman disclosed that the commission was conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems, including system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery measures.
He also revealed that INEC was considering a mock presidential election to test its preparedness for voter accreditation, result transmission and result viewing under conditions similar to actual election day.
Amupitan expressed particular concern over the use of generative artificial intelligence to produce synthetic audio, videos and images capable of misleading voters.
He said the technology had made it cheaper and more difficult to detect manipulated political content, while also creating opportunities for algorithmic microtargeting, where different groups of voters could receive conflicting political messages.
According to him, AI-generated misinformation could spread to millions of social media users before fact-checkers or electoral authorities had the opportunity to verify the content.
“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.
The INEC chairman also disclosed that the commission had proposed a significant budget for technology and election operations, including new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged during the previous electoral cycle.
He said the commission was awaiting the full release of the funds, while its Information and Communication Technology team had commenced engagements with manufacturers.
Amupitan outlined a five-point strategy to address emerging challenges in electoral communication. The measures include integrating technology and communication planning, establishing a rapid-response system to counter false information within the same news cycle, proactively explaining known vulnerabilities and safeguards, strengthening collaboration with media scholars, fact-checkers and technology platforms, and investing in public media literacy.
He maintained that INEC could no longer afford to treat technology and communication as separate components of election management.
The INEC chairman consequently urged media professionals, technology experts, academics, fact-checkers and other stakeholders to collaborate with the commission in strengthening public understanding and confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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