The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has declared that Nigerians—not artificial intelligence (AI)—will determine the outcome of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan, however, said artificial intelligence (AI) could influence the information available to voters and shape their political choices, but maintained that technology must remain a tool for strengthening democracy rather than determining electoral outcomes.
Amupitan stated this on Wednesday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum (AIDF) 2026, organized by Yiaga Africa and its partners.
The forum, themed “Will Algorithms Determine the 2027 Vote?: Safeguarding Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” was hosted in collaboration with partners including the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Dataphyte Foundation, Microsoft, Luminate, TikTok, Google, INEC, and the MacArthur Foundation, among others.
The INEC chairman stressed that the power to choose the country’s leaders rests solely with the electorate, not algorithms.
“Algorithms will not, and must never, decide the 2027 vote. Algorithms will not decide the vote because the choice of who leads Nigeria belongs exclusively to the Nigerian people,” he said.
The INEC chairman explained that sovereignty in a constitutional democracy rests with the people, who exercise their will through ballots cast at polling units across the country.
However, he warned that dismissing the influence of artificial intelligence would be naive, noting that while technology cannot replace voters, it will undeniably shape the information environment, influence election logistics, and alter the strategies of political actors.
“While algorithms will not decide the vote, AI will undeniably shape the information environment in which citizens form their choices, influence the speed and security of electoral logistics, and alter the tactics of both democratic actors and anti-democratic disruptors,” he said.
Amupitan added that the commission has a responsibility to deploy AI to strengthen electoral integrity while protecting the process against manipulation and emerging technological threats.
He identified deepfakes, synthetic media, targeted disinformation, automated bot accounts, and cyberattacks as major threats to the credibility of the 2027 polls.
According to him, rapid advances in generative AI have made it easier to produce convincing fake videos, audio recordings, and images capable of misleading voters, impersonating election officials, and spreading false information about electoral procedures.
He warned that such content could be used to falsely announce candidate withdrawals, circulate fake election postponement notices, or incite ethnic and religious tensions.
“The greatest threat we face is not the hacking of a ballot box, but the hacking of the voter’s mind,” he cautioned.
He also warned that AI-powered platforms could exploit voters’ personal preferences and vulnerabilities to circulate targeted political messages, manipulate public opinion, and suppress voter turnout among specific groups.
To counter these risks, Amupitan disclosed that INEC is developing a digital strategy to monitor the information space and is partnering with tech platforms to rapidly debunk false information and identify AI-generated content relating to the elections.
He revealed that INEC has already established a specialized AI unit within its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Directorate to monitor digital threats and track attempts to manipulate electoral data.
He reassured the public that critical electoral processes—including voter accreditation, result collation, and candidate qualification—will never be fully automated or delegated to autonomous systems.
He disclosed that the commission has procured additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines ahead of 2027, digitized candidate nominations (processing over 15,000 nominations across 22 political parties), and introduced online voter registration. He noted that the 2027 general elections will involve over 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units in Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, promising that INEC will work to prevent the disenfranchisement of any eligible voter, including persons with disabilities and internally displaced persons.
In his welcome remarks, the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, stated that rebuilding public trust in Nigeria’s electoral process requires transparency, accountability, and the responsible deployment of AI.
Itodo noted that public confidence in elections remains low, partly due to controversies surrounding technology during the 2023 general elections.
He cited a recent national voting intention survey by Yiaga Africa showing widespread public skepticism regarding whether votes would count in 2027.
While commending INEC for taking a leadership role as the first electoral body in Africa to establish a dedicated AI division, Itodo warned that technological innovation alone cannot guarantee credible elections without human integrity.
“If an AI tool is operated by a compromised individual, rest assured that the outcome will be compromised as well,” he stated.
____
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2026 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
