The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Joash Amupitan has called for a coordinated national response to the threats posed by artificial intelligence and foreign information manipulation to Nigeria’s 2027 general election.
Speaking on Monday at the opening of the National Summit on Electoral Information Integrity in Abuja themed ‘Beyond the Ballot: AI FIMI and the Integrity of Nigeria’s 2027 Elections’ Amupitan said weaponising information is now the biggest technological challenge facing modern democracy. The summit is supported under the EU-SDGN III framework.
The Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16 2027.
Amupitan said the issue was urgent enough for INEC to reschedule the South-South leg of its zonal readiness assessment in Port Harcourt so it could participate.
He said elections can now be undermined long before the first ballot is cast through synthetic media automated disinformation deepfakes digital micro-targeting and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).
‘Public awareness alone is no longer an adequate defence against synthetic content and digital manipulation’ he said noting that voice cloning realistic video fabrication and bot networks once available only to state-level actors now cost very little.
He identified three vulnerable stages of the electoral cycle that are affected: Pre-election (fake directives forged registration portals and false claims about voter list updates); Campaign close (deepfake audio or video timed for the period after campaigning ends when verification channels and candidates’ response windows are limited); and Collation (fake announcements of results or cancelled polls designed to trigger unrest).
Under Section 98(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 campaigns end 24 hours before polling day: January 14 2027 for the Presidential and National Assembly elections and February 4 2027 for governorship and State Assembly polls. He added that since campaigns opened in August parties and supporters have used social media to promote candidates and denigrate opponents with false information.
Amupitan cited the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election where an AI-generated audio clip purporting to show a party leader discussing vote-buying went viral during the pre-election blackout. Fact-checkers election authorities and media could not respond in time he said despite voters having been warned about deepfakes.
He also cautioned against the ‘Liar’s Dividend’ in which the mere existence of AI leads voters to doubt what is genuine. ‘While technology evolves at the speed of light the truth often travels at the speed of trust’ he said.
The commission said it is focusing on: Voter education: moving from ‘how to vote’ to ‘how to verify’ including ‘pre-bunking’ through short audio messages in local languages and Pidgin on WhatsApp
Technological safeguards: strengthening digital infrastructure against FIMI
Real-time response: mechanisms to debunk viral misinformation within minutes
Platform partnerships: with TikTok Facebook Instagram WhatsApp YouTube Telegram X and others with an MOU already in place with TikTok
‘INEC cannot police the truth alone’
Amupitan called on social media platforms to create fast-track channels for removing demonstrably altered content; on telecom providers and media houses to broadcast verified alerts without delay; and on fact-checkers and journalists to be given direct access to INEC communication desks. Security agencies he said must distinguish protected political expression from digital crimes aimed at destabilising public order.
He urged the media to serve as the ‘first line of verification’ civil society to help close the digital literacy gap in rural communities and technology partners to develop detection tools suited to Nigerian languages and social context.
The INEC chairman stressed that counter-disinformation efforts must not become a pretext for censorship or the suppression of dissent. ‘The goal is not to police opinion regulate political debate or restrict citizens’ freedom of expression’ he said adding that the aim is to protect the authenticity of operational election information so voters decide on facts rather than engineered deception.
Amupitan challenged the summit not to become ‘just another conference declaration.’ He listed three expected outcomes:
Inter-agency escalation protocols setting out who detects verifies escalates and communicates during a digital information crisis
Institutionalised fact-checking desks with real-time links between INEC information officers media monitors and certified fact-checkers
Simulation and stress-testing through tabletop exercises of AI-driven election scenarios
He noted that INEC and a development partner recently concluded a strategic communication workshop that simulated some of these scenarios.
Amupitan thanked the European Union IPC CEMESO and DAI for organising the summit saying the aim is for Nigerian voters to be ’empowered by information not paralysed by it.’
In his remarks Dr Lanre Arogundade said disinformation is now a battle fought on phones.
Arogundade also warned that the battle over the 2027 elections is being fought ‘on our phones not at polling units.’ Speaking on behalf of the conveners Arogundade said that with 75 days to the January 16 presidential and National Assembly elections awareness alone is insufficient against AI-driven disinformation.
He noted that 63 per cent of the claims reviewed by the Nigeria Fact-Checkers’ Coalition in 2023 were entirely false and that turnout fell to 26.7 per cent the lowest since 1999. He added that 66.5 per cent of Nigerians are deeply concerned about AI-generated political misinformation.
‘Awareness alone is insufficient’ the conveners said calling for a trusted coordinated and rights-respecting system that enables institutions to anticipate threats verify evidence escalate incidents communicate authoritatively and learn from each response.
Arogundade urged the more than 300 participants to adopt an ‘Abuja Commitment’ and a response protocol while protecting free expression and media freedom.