INEC Bans AI From Determining Nigeria 2027 Election Results
Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Joash Amupitan announced that AI will not determine 2027 election outcomes, though the agency will use it for logistics and auditing.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that artificial intelligence will not be permitted to determine the outcomes of Nigeria's 2027 general elections. Speaking at the AI and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan asserted that the choice of leaders rests exclusively with the electorate and that critical decisions, including results collation and voter accreditation, will remain under human oversight.
Amupitan warned that the primary threat to democracy is the "hacking of voters’ minds" through deepfakes, synthetic media, and coordinated disinformation. To mitigate these risks, INEC established a specialized AI unit within its Information and Communication Technology Directorate to monitor digital threats and detect deepfakes. The commission is also developing a governance framework in collaboration with the British High Commission and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
While banning AI from decision-making, INEC will leverage the technology for predictive modeling in logistics, biometric deduplication of the voters' register, and detecting anomalies in uploaded results. Amupitan called for the creation of an Electoral Information Integrity Coalition and urged political parties and digital platforms to adopt ethical codes to protect 103 million registered voters.
Samson Itodo of Yiaga Africa cautioned that technology alone cannot guarantee electoral credibility. He noted high levels of public distrust and warned that the personal integrity of those managing the technology is more critical than the deployment of the tools themselves.
