2027: Obidients reject INEC’s plan to use AI

The Obidient Movement has expressed strong opposition to the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) plan to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the 2027 general elections. Yunusa Tanko, the National Coordinator of the movement, cautioned against deploying AI without addressing transparency, result transmission, and credibility issues in the electoral process.

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, had previously announced that the commission was using AI tools to detect discrepancies and administrative errors in election results. Tanko alleged that INEC had yet to provide a clear explanation on how AI would function, the problems it aimed to resolve, and safeguards to prevent its misuse.

He emphasized that the same INEC that has struggled with transparency and result transmission is now proposing AI deployment, which he deemed insufficient. Tanko also cited an investigation by Mundx Analytics, which revealed that presidential results from over 50,000 polling units were uploaded from people's phones, arguing that technological advancement alone cannot ensure credible elections without institutional accountability.

The Obidient Movement demanded that INEC publish its comprehensive 2027 election plan, including all proposed technologies, procedures, and safeguards. They also called for an independent audit of the commission's electoral technology and public disclosure of the findings and corrective measures.