The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has assured Nigerians that artificial intelligence will not determine the outcome of the 2027 general elections, warning that emerging technologies must not undermine voters’ choices.
Amupitan made the declaration at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, organised by INEC and Yiaga Africa, according to a statement published on the commission’s official X handle on Wednesday, October 14.
“Algorithms will not, and must never, decide the 2027 vote,” he said. “The choice of who leads Nigeria belongs exclusively to the Nigerian people.”
He acknowledged that AI would influence political information, election logistics and the activities of both democratic and anti-democratic actors ahead of the polls.
With the elections approaching, Amupitan described the exercise as one of the most complex electoral operations globally, involving more than 103 million registered voters, 176,846 polling units and 774 local government areas.
He said INEC had completed 10 of the 14 major operational milestones prescribed by the Electoral Act 2026.
The commission has also acquired additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System units, introduced digital candidate nominations and launched online voter registration.
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According to the chairman, AI could improve election administration through logistics planning, biometric database management, cybersecurity and multilingual voter education.
However, he stressed that critical electoral decisions, including voter accreditation, result collation and candidate qualification, would remain under human oversight.
Amupitan identified deepfakes, AI-generated misinformation, algorithmic bias and cyberattacks as threats to electoral integrity, warning that false information could distort voters’ understanding of political events.
“The greatest threat we face is not the hacking of a ballot box, but the hacking of the voter’s mind,” he said.
He disclosed that INEC had established a specialised AI unit within its ICT Directorate, equipped to monitor digital threats and detect manipulated content.
The chairman also urged political parties, media organisations, civil society groups, security agencies and the judiciary to strengthen cooperation against election-related misinformation.
He proposed an Electoral Information Integrity Coalition to help identify and counter viral falsehoods, insisting that technology must support, not replace, the will of Nigerian voters.