The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is seeking to fuse electoral technology with strategic communication ahead of the 2027 general elections, as the Commission warns that artificial intelligence-driven disinformation could pose a major threat to electoral credibility.
Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman, said the growing sophistication of generative artificial intelligence had fundamentally changed the information environment in which elections are conducted, making it imperative for technology and communication to be planned as one electoral discipline.
Amupitan spoke in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by Sani Adam, National Commissioner at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) at the National Open University Conference Centre, Abuja, on Wednesday.
The Conference was themed, ‘Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication.’
The INEC chairman said the credibility of the 2027 election would depend not only on the integrity of ballots, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets, but also on whether voters understand, trust and can independently verify information about the electoral process.
According to him, the deployment of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was intended to address longstanding concerns over the credibility of election results by enabling citizens to view polling-unit results before their movement through the collation process.
He, however, acknowledged that the experience of the 2023 general election demonstrated how technological failures could undermine public confidence.
‘Legitimacy is earned only when systems perform reliably, are well understood, and are explained honestly when they fall short,’ he said.
INEC audits election technology
Amupitan noted that INEC had commenced a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology infrastructure, covering system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster-recovery planning.
The Commission is also considering a mock Presidential election ahead of 2027 to test voter accreditation, results transmission and results viewing under conditions designed to replicate election day.
The move comes as INEC prepares to deploy additional technology for the next general election, including new accreditation devices to replace equipment lost or damaged during the previous electoral cycle.
Amupitan said the Commission had proposed a substantial election budget with significant allocations for technology and operations, although full release of the funds was still being awaited.
He added that INEC’s ICT team had already begun engagements with manufacturers on procurement, while preparations for the technology audit and proposed mock election were progressing alongside budget finalisation.