The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed artificial intelligence-generated photographs uploaded to the national voters’ register and identified officials involved in the practice across 10 states for disciplinary action.
INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation, titled ‘AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote’.
Haruna, who chairs the commission’s Information and Voter Education Committee, described the development as one of the emerging challenges facing the electoral body ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He explained that while INEC might find it difficult to prevent members of the public from manipulating or enhancing their photographs before uploading them to the voters’ register, the commission had identified cases involving its own personnel.
According to him, the affected staff members have been flagged, with their names documented across approximately 10 states, and will face disciplinary action.
“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,” Haruna said.
He added that the commission was already taking steps to address cases involving its officials.
“We have their names across about 10 states, and obviously, they are going to face disciplinary action,” he stated.
On efforts to regulate artificial intelligence in Nigeria’s electoral process, the INEC commissioner disclosed that the commission had developed an AI policy but was yet to finalise it.
Haruna noted that the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence had made regulation challenging, even for technologically advanced countries, stressing that the commission was still working out how best to manage its application in the electoral process.
“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.
He, however, assured that INEC had outlined its proposed approach to the technology and would soon finalise the policy for public consideration and share it with the media.