The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has warned that the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence-driven disinformation poses one of the most serious threats to the credibility of Nigeria’s 2027 General Election.
He also called for electoral technology and electoral communication to be treated as a single discipline ahead of the polls.
Prof. Amupitan made the call on Wednesday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars & Professionals of Nigeria, ACSPN.
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The address was delivered on his behalf by National Commissioner, Sani Adam, SAN, at the National Open University Conference Centre.
Speaking on the theme, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication,” the INEC Chairman said the Commission’s credibility now rests as much on how information about its processes is understood and trusted as it does on the integrity of the ballot, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets.
He noted that the deployment of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was designed to close a longstanding credibility gap by allowing citizens to view polling unit results before they could be altered en route to collation.
However, he acknowledged that the 2023 general election showed that such technology could become a source of public doubt when it underperformed.
“Legitimacy is earned only when systems perform reliably, are well understood, and are explained honestly when they fall short,” he said.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that INEC is undertaking a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems, covering system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery planning.
He added that the Commission is also exploring the conduct of a mock presidential election ahead of 2027 to test accreditation, transmission and results viewing under conditions similar to election day.
He confirmed that INEC has proposed a substantial budget for 2027 with significant allocations for technology and election operations, including new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged in the last cycle.
While awaiting full release of the funds, he said the Commission’s ICT team has already engaged manufacturers on procurement.
On synthetic and fabricated content, the INEC Chairman said generative artificial intelligence has made it increasingly cheap and difficult to detect manipulated video, audio and imagery.
He cited documented cases of doctored political content during recent electoral cycles in West and East Africa, including footage that circulated during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential contest.
“Such content could spread to millions of social media users before verification is possible,” he warned.
“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.”
Outlining INEC’s strategy, Prof. Amupitan proposed a five-point approach: integration of technology and communication planning; a dedicated rapid-response capability for countering falsehoods within the same news cycle; pre-emptive public communication about known vulnerabilities and safeguards; deeper partnership with media scholars, fact-checkers and technology platforms; and sustained investment in public media literacy.
He said Nigeria’s 2027 electorate will be younger and more mobile-first than any before it, with the smartphone serving as the primary window through which many voters will experience the election.
“Solutions adopted elsewhere must be adapted to Nigeria’s own realities of internet access, language diversity and institutional trust. INEC’s response to disinformation would be to provide better and faster information rather than to restrict legitimate journalism or civic dissent,” he said.
The Chairman commended INEC’s ongoing collaboration with international partners on cybersecurity and system resilience, and invited ACSPN to partner with the Commission on media literacy research, synthetic content detection, and training for journalists and civic educators.
He expressed optimism that the conference would produce a lasting channel of collaboration and reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to strengthening both its technology and transparency as Nigeria approaches 2027.