By Augustine Ehikioya
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday raised fresh concerns over the growing threat posed by generative artificial intelligence (AI) to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
The commission warned that the misuse of AI in producing manipulated audio, video and images, as well as highly targeted messages designed to feed conflicting narratives to different groups of voters, posed a serious threat to the electoral process.
It said the threats were “no longer a distant, theoretical risk” to the commission.
The National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Malam Mohammed Kudu Haruna, raised the concerns while declaring open a capacity-building workshop for Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) drawn from across the states.
According to the INEC bulletin, Haruna said generative AI “has made it cheaper and considerably harder to detect manipulated audio, video and images.”
He added that the misuse of the technology extended beyond fabricated content to targeted messaging capable of dividing voters by presenting conflicting narratives to different groups.
Haruna recalled that INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had recently said at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria that “election credibility today no longer depends only on ballot papers, BVAS machines and result sheets,” but also “depends equally on the information environment in which voters form their judgments.”
According to Haruna, the INEC chairman had called for electoral technology and electoral communication to be treated “not as separate concerns but as a single discipline.”
Haruna described the workshop, themed “Strengthening PAOs Capacity for Credible, Verified and Responsible Election Communication Towards 2027,” as a direct response to the emerging challenges.
He described Public Affairs Officers as “the frontline communicators of INEC in the states,” adding that “the credibility of INEC’s communication, in many respects, begins with the work you do.”
He said the skills to be developed at the workshop, particularly in verification, escalation and clear and consistent messaging, would be tested in real time as the 2027 general elections approach.
The commissioner also commended the Voter Education and Publicity (VEP) Department for designing a programme that was “practical, skills-based, and directly relevant to the realities you face at the state level.”
In her welcome remarks, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, told participants that “it is through you that Nigerians form much of their impression of who we are, what we stand for, and how reliable our information is.”
She said INEC “operates under constant public scrutiny and is regularly confronted with attempts to misrepresent its work and undermine public confidence in it.”
Eta-Messi disclosed that the workshop was not a one-off engagement, noting that further capacity-building interventions were “at advanced stages of planning, with development partner support.”
She described the training as “the beginning of sustained engagement to ensure you are well prepared for your assigned responsibility.”
