Election 2027: INEC raises alarm over AI-driven disinformation, trains PAOs

Election 2027: INEC raises alarm over AI-driven disinformation, trains PAOs

From our political correspondent

Abuja (Core Reporters) The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has once again expressed concern over the growing threat that generative artificial intelligence poses to the credibility of elections, warning that its misuse in the production of manipulated audio, video and images, as well as highly targeted messages designed to feed conflicting narratives to different groups of voters, is “no longer a distant theoretical risk” to the Commission.

The warning, which reiterates a concern that the Commission had raised on previous occasions, was launched by the National Commissioner and president of the Voter Information and Education Committee (IVEC), Mal. Mohammed Kudu Haruna, Monday, September 21, 2026, in Abuja, declared open a capacity building workshop for Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) from all States.

National Commissioner Haruna said generative AI “has made it cheaper and significantly more difficult to detect manipulated audio, video and images,” adding that its misuse extends beyond manufactured content to targeted messages capable of dividing voters along competing narratives.

He recalled that Prof. Amupitan, speaking recently at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria, had said that “election credibility today no longer depends only on ballot papers, BVAS machines and result sheets”, but “also depends on the information environment in which voters form their judgements”. The president, he said, called for election technology and election communications to be treated “not as separate issues but as a single discipline.”

Commissioner Haruna described the seminar, themed “Strengthening the capacity of EACs for credible, verified and accountable electoral communication towards 2027”, as a direct response to this reality. He said that public affairs officials are “INEC’s front-line communicators in the United States,” adding that “the credibility of INEC’s communication, in many respects, begins with the work that is done.”

He said the skills to be developed at the workshop, “in verification, escalation and clear and consistent messaging,” would be tested in real time as the 2027 general election approaches, and praised the Department of Voter Education and Publicity (VEP) for designing a program that is “practical, skills-based and directly relevant to the realities you face at the state level.”

In her welcome speech, Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, told attendees that “it is through you that Nigerians form much of their impression of who we are, what we stand for and how reliable our information is.” It said INEC “operates under constant public scrutiny and is regularly confronted with attempts to misrepresent its work and undermine public confidence in it.”

Ms Eta-Messi explained that the workshop was not a one-off commitment, stressing that further capacity-building interventions are “in advanced stages of planning, with the support of development partners”. He described the training as “the beginning of a lifelong commitment to ensuring you are well prepared for your assigned responsibility.”

Presenting the objectives of the workshop, Deputy Director for Information and Publicity, Wilfred Ifogah, said the training was designed “to strengthen the practical communication skills that public affairs officials require in their daily work, both now and as we approach the 2027 general elections”.

He listed objectives including clarifying lines of escalation between PAOs, department heads, voter education and publicity, and resident election commissioners (RECs); strengthen consistency of writing in press releases, talking points and social media platforms; develop the capacity to monitor the information ecosystem and respond to misinformation and disinformation; and introducing “the responsible use of artificial intelligence in communications work, including its practical applications, limitations and required safeguards regarding confidentiality and verification”.

Ifogah said participants are expected to leave the seminar with “a shared appreciation of the standards of accuracy, consistency and professionalism required of every public affairs officer of this Commission”, particularly in view of the 2027 general elections.