Amupitan raises alarm over AI-driven disinformation ahead of 2027 election, seeks stronger election technology

Amupitan raises alarm over AI-driven disinformation ahead of 2027 election, seeks stronger election technology

From our political correspondent

Abuja (Core Reporters) The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), has called for election technology and election communication to be treated as a single discipline, warning that the growing sophistication of AI-driven disinformation poses one of the gravest threats to the credibility of the 2027 general elections in Nigeria.

Prof. Amupitan made the appeal in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by the National Commissioner, Sani Adam (SAN) at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria (ACSPN), held at the National Open University Conference Centre, Abuja, Wednesday, September 2, 2026.

Speaking on the topic “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Addressing the Digital Revolution and New Dynamics of Election Communication”, the INEC President said the Commission’s credibility now rests as much on how information about its processes is understood and trusted as on the integrity of the ballot, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the results.

He noted that the implementation of BVAS and INEC’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) was designed to address a long-standing credibility gap in national elections by giving citizens the ability to view polling unit results before they can be changed during the collation process. However, he acknowledged that the 2023 general election demonstrated that such technology could become a source of public doubt when underperforming, stressing that legitimacy is only gained when systems work reliably, are well understood and are explained honestly when they fall short.

The INEC Chairman revealed that the Commission is undertaking a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems, covering system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery planning, and is also exploring holding a mock presidential election before 2027 to test the accreditation, transmission and display of results under election day-like conditions.

On the threat of synthetic and manufactured content, Prof. Amupitan said generative AI has made it increasingly cheap and difficult to detect manipulated video, audio and images, citing documented cases of manipulated political content during recent election cycles in West and East Africa, including footage circulated during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential contest. He said such content could spread to millions of social media users before verification is possible, warning that the danger lies not just in outright falsification but also in algorithmic microtargeting, which allows conflicting messages to reach narrow segments of the electorate without a shared factual basis.

Addressing the Commission’s preparations for 2027, the President confirmed that INEC has proposed a substantial budget with significant allocations for electoral technology and operations, including new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged in the last cycle. He said that while the full release of the funds is still awaited, the Commission’s ICT team has already involved manufacturers in procurement, planning the technology audit and proceeding with election simulations along with finalizing the budget.

Outlining a five-point approach for the Commission for the Future, Prof. Amupitan called for the integration of technology and communications planning, a dedicated rapid response capacity to counter falsehoods within the same news cycle, pre-emptive public communication on known vulnerabilities and safeguards, a deeper partnership with media scholars, fact-checkers and technology platforms, and sustained investment in public media literacy.

He commended INEC’s continued collaboration with international partners on cybersecurity architecture and system resilience, and invited ACSPN and Nigeria’s communication scholars to a structured collaboration on media literacy research, synthetic content detection, and training for journalists and civic educators.

The President further noted that the Nigerian electorate in 2027 will be younger and more mobile-first than any before, describing the smartphone as the primary window through which many voters will experience elections. However, he cautioned that solutions adopted elsewhere must be adapted to Nigeria’s realities in terms of internet access, linguistic diversity and institutional trust, and stressed that INEC’s response to disinformation would be to provide better and faster information rather than restricting legitimate journalism or civic dissent.

He expressed optimism that the conference would produce not only academic papers but a lasting channel of collaboration between ACSPN and the Commission, and reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to strengthening both its technology and transparency as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections.