AI disinformation could undermine 2027 polls, INEC warns

The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned that artificial intelligence-driven disinformation poses a serious threat to the credibility of the 2027 general elections, calling for electoral technology and communication to be treated as a single discipline.

The INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, SAN, also disclosed that the commission was conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems and considering a mock presidential election to test its readiness ahead of the polls.

This was contained in a statement signed by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi.

Amupitan spoke on Wednesday in Abuja 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.

The conference was themed, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication.”

Amupitan said the credibility of the electoral commission increasingly depended not only on the integrity of the ballot, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and result sheets, but also on how information about electoral processes was understood and trusted by voters.

He said the deployment of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal was intended to address longstanding concerns about the transparency of elections by allowing citizens to view polling-unit results before their movement to collation centres.

“He, however, acknowledged that the 2023 General Election showed that such technology could become a source of public doubt when it underperformed, stressing that legitimacy is earned only when systems perform reliably, are well understood, and are explained honestly when they fall short,” the statement read.

He said legitimacy could only be earned when electoral systems performed reliably, were properly understood by voters, and their shortcomings were honestly explained when they occurred.

On preparations for 2027, Amupitan said the commission was auditing its technology systems, including system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery plans.

He added that INEC was exploring the possibility of conducting a mock presidential election ahead of the 2027 polls to test voter accreditation, result transmission and result viewing under conditions similar to election day.

The INEC chairman also raised concerns about the growing use of generative artificial intelligence to create synthetic audio, video and images capable of misleading voters.

He said the technology had made manipulated content cheaper to produce and increasingly difficult to detect, with fabricated political content already circulating during recent electoral cycles in West and East Africa.

According to him, the threat extends beyond outright fabrication to algorithmic microtargeting, which allows different and even contradictory political messages to be directed at narrow segments of the electorate.

He warned that such content could reach millions of social media users before fact-checkers or electoral authorities were able to verify it.

“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 disclosed that INEC had proposed a substantial budget for technology and election operations, “including new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged in the last cycle.”

He said the commission was still awaiting the full release of the funds but that its ICT team had begun engagements with manufacturers, while preparations for the technology audit and proposed mock election were proceeding alongside budget finalisation.

He also outlined a five-point strategy for strengthening the commission’s response to emerging electoral communication challenges.

The strategy includes integrating technology and communication planning, establishing a rapid-response mechanism to counter 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.

Amupitan said the commission could no longer afford to regard technology and communication as separate components of election management.

He urged media professionals, technology experts, scholars and other stakeholders to work with INEC to strengthen public understanding and trust in the electoral process before the 2027 elections.