The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed artificial intelligence-generated photographs uploaded to Nigeria’s national voters’ register and identified officials involved in the practice across 10 states for disciplinary action.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation.
The webinar, titled ‘AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote’, examined the growing threat of artificial intelligence-generated content and misinformation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Haruna described the manipulation of photographs uploaded to the voters’ register as one of the challenges facing the commission, noting that INEC had already removed several AI-generated images identified on the register.
“We have already seen one of the challenges, which is that a lot of AI-generated photographs were posted onto the voters’ register, which, as we have said, we have had to take down,” he said.
He explained that although the commission might find it difficult to prevent members of the public from digitally manipulating their photographs before uploading them, it had greater control over violations involving its personnel.
According to him, INEC has identified staff members involved in the practice and flagged them for disciplinary proceedings.
“But the ones involving our own staff, where it is our own staff that did so, that one is within our control. We are in the process of addressing it. They have been flagged,” Haruna said.
The commissioner disclosed that the affected officials had been identified in approximately 10 states, adding that they would face disciplinary action.
“We have their names across about 10 states, and obviously, they are going to face disciplinary action,” he added.
INEC Develops AI Policy Ahead of 2027 Elections
Haruna also disclosed that INEC had developed a policy framework to guide its use of artificial intelligence in the electoral process but was still working to finalise the document.
He said regulating artificial intelligence remained a challenge globally because the technology was evolving rapidly, with even advanced democracies yet to establish comprehensive frameworks for its application.
“As you know very well, it is new territory out there. Even the most advanced countries don’t have what you might call concrete, specific policies about AI because these things are evolving,” he said.
However, he noted that the commission had already outlined how it intended to deploy the technology and would soon finalise its policy for public consideration.
“But we have at least some ideas of what we want to do and how we want to use that. We have that policy. Very soon, we will concretise it, and we will be able to share it with the media,” he said.
