The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cautioned journalists against amplifying unverified election results, manipulated content and misinformation capable of undermining public confidence in the 2027 general elections.
This is as the Commission said that it is strengthening its technological infrastructure, cybersecurity and result management systems to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process ahead of the polls.
Sylvia Agu, Abia State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), gave the warning on Wednesday at the 2026 Media Retreat and Press Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abia State Council, in Umuahia.
Speaking on the theme, “Safeguarding Electoral Integrity in the Digital Age: INEC and the Media Ahead of the 2027 General Elections,” Agu identified misinformation, disinformation, artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes, cloned voices and manipulated result sheets as emerging threats to electoral credibility.
She urged media organisations to prioritise verification over speed, warning that the race to break news must not come at the expense of national stability and public trust.
“The race to break the news must not break the nation,” the REC cautioned, stressing that journalists must resist the temptation to publish unverified information in the pursuit of exclusives.
She advised media practitioners to cross-check election-related information with INEC before going on air or publishing, noting that failure to verify claims could expose news organisations to credibility challenges.
Agu further cautioned against declaring results based on information from unauthorised sources, urging journalists to avoid becoming channels for the dissemination of unverified results.
She called on the media to support voter education by explaining relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, particularly those relating to voter accreditation, electronic transmission of results and transparency in the electoral process.
The REC said that the new legal framework had strengthened safeguards around elections, citing provisions mandating the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for accreditation and electronic transmission of polling unit results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
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She also highlighted provisions prescribing penalties for officials, who deliberately frustrate electronic transmission of results, adding that the law had strengthened transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
On technological preparedness, Agu said that INEC was building on lessons from previous elections to improve BVAS, IReV, the electronic EC8A and its Results Management System.
She explained that the electronic EC8A system was designed to detect inconsistencies between manually completed polling unit result sheets and electronically captured results with discrepancies preventing uploads until they were resolved.
The REC recalled how BIVAS helped detect an alleged manipulation of voter accreditation figures in a local government area of Abia State during the 2023 general elections.
