At Editors’ Conference, Amupitan Says INEC Deploying AI to Detect Result Errors Ahead of 2027
Says deepfakes may erode confidence in polls
Engages Microsoft, google on cybersecurity resilience
Onaiyekan: Elections increasingly decided in courts, not at polls
Demands independent INEC, special election tribunal
Seeks 50% threshold for presidential victory
Igwe Achebe: Media must be ‘last man standing’ in defence of democracy
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, yesterday disclosed that the electoral umpire has begun deploying artificial intelligence tools to detect discrepancies and administrative errors in election results, with Nigeria’s 2027 general elections barely four months away.
Amupitan, who spoke at the 24th All Nigeria Editors Conference in Enugu, said the commission was simultaneously strengthening its defences against AI-generated disinformation capable of producing fake result sheets, cloned voices of electoral officials, fabricated videos and forged official documents within minutes.
He warned that the greater danger was not simply that voters might believe fabricated information, but that the proliferation of convincing falsehoods could make Nigerians lose confidence even in genuine results.
Amupitan said the commission had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department and developed an AI Roadmap and Governance Framework based on human oversight, transparency and accountability, data protection, cybersecurity and public trust.
“We have commenced deploying intelligent AI tools directly within our results management process. This technology automatically scans and detects discrepancies or administrative errors in result records before final validation.
“Technology must complement, rather than replace constitutional institutions…AI must strengthen electoral integrity, improve public service, and always remain under human control. Every automated result check remains strictly subject to human auditing and legal verification,” he said.
The INEC chairman said the commission had also engaged senior executives of Microsoft and Google on cybersecurity resilience, cloud infrastructure protection and threat mitigation, while discussions with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems had focused on technical capacity building, risk management and responsible AI integration ahead of the 2027 elections.
He warned that synthetic disinformation could create the appearance of electoral fraud before genuine results were even collated.
“The primary danger of synthetic disinformation is not merely that it tricks citizens into believing a specific falsehood, but it causes the systemic destruction of public trust. When everything can be faked, citizens begin to doubt genuine, verified facts provided by constitutional authorities.
“When deepfakes render lies believable, real truth is greeted with skepticism. Cynicism replaces civic engagement, leading voters to ask: Why stand in line for hours if the outcome is already manipulated on a screen? That mental retreat is where democracy begins to decay,” Amupitan said.
He gave examples of possible attacks ahead of 2027, including fabricated videos of electoral officials announcing false results, cloned audio recordings of resident electoral commissioners allegedly directing manipulation of voting devices, forged letters announcing postponement of elections and manipulated result sheets circulated immediately after voting.
Amupitan said the challenge was particularly serious because the 2027 elections would be conducted nationwide, unlike the recent Osun governorship election.
He disclosed that during the August 15 Osun election, 3,556 of the state’s 3,763 polling units, representing 94.5 per cent, opened for accreditation and voting by 8:30 a.m., while INEC deployed 5,130 BVAS devices, including 1,328 backup units.
“Osun was a single-state exercise, 2027 will be across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The Presidential and National Assembly Elections holds on Saturday, 16th January 2027. The Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections holds on Saturday, 6th February 2027. The statutory timeline is fixed, and the clock is ticking,” he said.
The INEC chairman subsequently challenged editors to make verification a central part of their election coverage, saying the media remained the principal gatekeeper between fabricated information and the electorate.
“The pressure on modern newsrooms to be first is immense. But in national elections, it is vastly more important to be right than to be first. Rushing to publish unverified, sensational claims, whether a fake result sheet on social media, a doctored video, or an unconfirmed statement, grants institutional legitimacy to deliberate deception, causing damage to public peace that is almost impossible to reverse,” Amupitan said.
He urged media organisations to establish fact-checking desks and integrate deepfake detection software, digital verification tools and forensic image analysis into their daily breaking-news operations.
Amupitan also appealed to editors to resist premature result declarations, stressing that the statutory authority to declare election results rested with INEC.
However, a keynote speaker at the conference, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, raised a wider concern about the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral system, declaring that the country was increasingly witnessing elections being determined in court rather than at the polling stations.
Onaiyekan said political actors had exploited weaknesses in the electoral system, while concerns over the independence of INEC, the neutrality of governments, the role of security agencies and the handling of electoral disputes had continued to undermine public confidence.
He called for a fundamental overhaul of the electoral framework, including a new system for appointing the INEC chairman and commissioners that would make them less dependent on the executive, as well as the establishment of a special election tribunal to conclude electoral cases before elected candidates were sworn into office.
The cardinal also proposed that citizens should be allowed to challenge election results, arguing that those whose votes were at stake should not be excluded from the legal process.
He said Nigeria should also introduce a 50 per cent threshold for presidential elections, with a runoff between the two leading candidates where no candidate secured the required majority.
Onaiyekan said: “Our experience in the recent past has almost become that we have been witnessing a situation where our elections are being determined not at the polls, but in the courts by the tribunals. And this gives a field day for high-class lawyers with high-level fees, doing their best to manipulate issues on technicalities.
“There are allegations that are difficult to deny, of unjust judgments by some judges in election tribunals. The performance of the judiciary in recent elections has seriously dented the image of this hallowed institution. I do hope that efforts are being made to regain the trust of the people in the courts in these matters.”
He argued that the presidential electoral system should be changed to require at least 50 per cent of votes cast, with a second round between the leading candidates where no one achieved the threshold.
“A situation where a candidate is declared a winner and our president with only 30 per cent of the votes cast, puts doubt on the authenticity of the victory. It is a victory by minority votes. A 50 per cent minimum would ensure that whoever becomes our president has a traceable margin of endorsement by the Nigerian people,” Onaiyekan said.
The cardinal also called for independent candidacy, saying Nigerians should not be forced to depend entirely on political parties to contest elections, particularly at the local government level.
He further proposed that lawmakers who defect from the political parties under which they were elected should return to their constituencies to seek fresh mandates.
Earlier, the Obi of Onitsha and chairman of the conference, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, warned that the media’s failure to distinguish truth from AI-generated falsehood could turn democratic elections into what he described as “a theatre”.
“The ballot is the citizen’s voice. The media is the mirror by which that citizen sees the world clearly enough to know what to say with that voice. When the mirror is cracked, or worse, deliberately distorted, the citizen no longer votes from truth but votes from illusion. And a democracy built on illusion is not genuine democracy but drama. It becomes a theatre,” Achebe said.
He charged editors to verify information before publication and to debunk falsehood regardless of which political camp benefited from it.
“Debunking a lie that flatters your own political camp is far harder than debunking one that flatters your rival. True journalistic integrity in this era will require you to correct falsehoods regardless of who benefits from them, before, during, and yes, after elections,” he said.
Achebe urged the media to remain the ultimate institutional safeguard for democracy even when politicians, electoral institutions and other public institutions failed.
“Even if politicians, electoral body, institutions, and other things fail, you must be the ultimate last man standing in the task of defending democracy,” he said.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who also addressed the conference, said the quality of information available to Nigerians would be critical as the country approached the 2027 elections.
He urged editors to subject claims from government and political actors to the same standards of verification, saying responsible journalism should neither exaggerate achievements nor ignore them.
“The job of the professional journalist is not to amplify every claim simply because it is politically attractive. The job is to establish what is true, provide context and allow citizens to make their own judgments,” Idris said.
He said the federal government was committed to strengthening media and information literacy, while urging media organisations, technology companies, civil society, political parties, electoral institutions and citizens to share responsibility for protecting the information environment ahead of the elections.
“The media should also resist the temptation to become part of the political contest. Elections will always produce strong opinions. Political parties will defend their records. Candidates will make promises. Supporters will criticise their opponents.
“As we approach 2027, I encourage editors to strengthen collaboration with fact-checking organisations, technology experts, election authorities and other credible sources. Newsrooms should invest in digital verification skills and develop clear internal procedures for dealing with AI-generated content,” he stated.