The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that artificial intelligence (AI)-generated fake election results, fabricated announcements and manipulated audio recordings could undermine Nigeria’s 2027 general elections and trigger public unrest if not addressed through coordinated institutional responses.

Joash Amupitan, chairman of INEC, said emerging technologies had expanded the ability of malicious actors to produce convincing but false information capable of misleading voters, discrediting electoral institutions and eroding public confidence in the democratic process.

Speaking on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the two-day National Summit on Electoral Information Integrity, themed “Beyond the Ballot: National Summit on Electoral Information Integrity: AI, FIMI and the Integrity of Nigeria’s 2027 Election”, Amupitan said elections could now be undermined long before voting commenced through synthetic media, automated misinformation, disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

He said the threat to electoral integrity was no longer limited to physical interference with ballot papers and polling operations but had increasingly shifted to digital platforms, where fabricated information could spread rapidly and influence public perception.

According to him, synthetic audio and manipulated documents could falsely announce election results or claim that votes had been cancelled in strategic locations, potentially triggering civil unrest and undermining the electoral process.

“When the law says the only authority that has the right to announce the final result is the INEC, that does not stop people from watching, from checking the facts. Nobody can stop it.

“But at the same time, because of the danger of AI, it is possible for anybody in his room or her room to produce results that are generated that are not derived from authentic results that come from the polling unit, and thereby use that to deceive Nigerian people and call for violence even before the announcement of the results,” he said

The INEC chairman said the commission was particularly concerned that public awareness campaigns alone would no longer be sufficient to protect voters against sophisticated digital manipulation.

He noted that while educating citizens about deepfakes and encouraging caution when consuming online information remained important, such measures were inadequate against well-coordinated, well-funded and highly targeted information operations designed to weaken confidence in electoral administration.

“What Nigeria urgently requires is a trusted, coordinated and right-respecting operational ecosystem,” Amupitan said.

He explained that such a framework would enable public authorities, security agencies, independent fact-checkers, media organisations and digital platform operators to anticipate emerging threats, verify evidence, escalate incidents promptly and communicate authoritative information to the public.

Amupitan said INEC was strengthening its internal capacity to address the emerging challenges, including establishing an artificial intelligence unit to anticipate threats associated with the technologies being deployed in electoral administration.

He said the commission had also been working with development partners, including the European Union, to establish a strategic communication crisis network and improve institutional responses to misinformation.

The chairman identified voter education, technological safeguards, real-time responses and stronger partnerships with social media companies as priorities ahead of the 2027 elections.

He said voter education must move beyond teaching citizens how to vote to helping them verify information and distinguish official electoral announcements from AI-generated fabrications.

“Moving beyond how to vote, to how to verify. So we don’t just teach our electorates how to vote, but also how to verify some of this information, ensuring that citizens can distinguish official publications from AI-generated defects,” he said.

He also called for increased use of short video messages in local languages and Pidgin English, particularly through WhatsApp, to help citizens identify fabricated information.

On technological preparedness, Amupitan said INEC was building its capacity to monitor public data streams for early signs of coordinated manipulation targeting electoral operations.

He said the commission was also enhancing its ability to detect deepfakes, verify suspicious media and issue authoritative clarifications through established communication channels and traditional broadcast platforms.

However, he stressed that INEC could not tackle the challenge alone, calling on social media companies, telecommunications operators, media organisations, fact-checkers, civil society groups and security agencies to establish coordinated response mechanisms.

He urged digital platforms to create faster escalation channels for reviewing and flagging or removing demonstrably manipulated content that violates their standards on electoral interference.

Telecommunications providers and media organisations, he said, should maintain clear channels for broadcasting verified institutional alerts without administrative delays, while fact-checkers and independent journalists should have access to designated communication channels to confirm electoral information within minutes rather than hours.

Security agencies, he added, must be able to distinguish between protected political expression and digital crimes intended to destabilise public order.

The INEC chairman also warned that AI-generated misinformation could be deployed during different stages of the electoral cycle, including voter registration, political campaigns and the announcement of results.

He cited examples of fabricated operational directives, forged voter registration portals and manipulated claims about voter registers as potential threats capable of creating confusion among citizens.

Amupitan further explained that AI-generated campaign materials could continue circulating after the legally prescribed campaign period, making it difficult for electoral authorities, media organisations and fact-checkers to respond before the information influences voters.

He said the growing accessibility of AI tools had made it possible for individuals and organised groups to produce convincing fake audio recordings, videos and other content at relatively low cost.

Gautier Mignot, the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, also warned that information manipulation was fundamentally an attack on public trust, stressing that preparations to counter electoral disinformation must begin before election-related tensions intensified.

Mignot called for stronger operational partnerships among relevant stakeholders, while emphasising the need to protect fundamental rights, press independence and citizens’ participation in the democratic process.

He cautioned that efforts to tackle electoral manipulation must not become a justification for suppressing legitimate criticism, incomplete reporting or political disagreement.

“A citizen questioning an institution is not necessarily spreading misinformation. A journalist reporting a failure is performing a democratic action,” he said.

The EU ambassador also highlighted the vulnerability of women to impersonation, falsehoods and coordinated online abuse, warning that protecting their ability to speak and participate in politics was essential to democratic equality.

He called for trustworthy electoral information to be made accessible across local languages, through community media and in formats that accommodate persons with disabilities.

Mignot reaffirmed the European Union’s support for Nigerian-led efforts to strengthen electoral integrity, stressing that international partners were not seeking to influence electoral outcomes.

“Nigeria’s electoral choices belong to Nigerians. The role of international partners is to support Nigerian efforts to protect the conditions in which these choices can be made freely and peacefully,” he said.

The summit, held from November 2 to 3 in Abuja, was convened by the International Press Centre (IPC), the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) and Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) Programme.

It brought together electoral officials, security institutions, regulatory agencies, political parties, civil society organisations, media executives and technology stakeholders to examine the implications of artificial intelligence and foreign information manipulation for the 2027 general elections.

The discussions are expected to produce practical commitments and response pathways to strengthen electoral information integrity, improve institutional preparedness and protect citizens’ access to reliable information ahead of the polls.