2027: INEC’s plan to introduce AI in electoral process sparks reactions

The Chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan, revealed on Tuesday that the electoral body has established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Division and began incorporating AI tools into its election verification and cybersecurity systems ahead of the 2027 general elections. The announcement was made during a press conference and meeting with national stakeholders in Abuja, ahead of the first ballot of the 2027 elections.

The AI auditing tools will be integrated into the results verification process as part of a five-pillar AI Governance Framework, which includes mandatory human oversight. Additionally, INEC is finalizing a policy to guide the use of AI technology and is integrating AI-driven anomaly detection tools to protect its public portals against cyber intrusions and unauthorized alterations.

However, the move has sparked concerns and reactions from various quarters. Some opposition members, including the Obidient Movement and the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), have outrightly rejected the initiative, demanding that the technology be excluded from results collation and that every result remains independently verifiable.

They argue that results and voices of INEC officials could be easily cloned and the technology is still in the final stages of development, making it an untested electoral experiment. The movement emphasized that Nigerians should not be guinea pigs for another untested electoral experiment and called for greater transparency and accountability.

The ADC also urged the media to establish fact-checking desks and verify election-related information with INEC before publication, warning against the easy fabrication of election officials' voices, doctored result sheets, and fake letterheads using generative AI, voice cloning, and deepfake videos.