The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is developing a governance framework for artificial intelligence as it prepares to deploy the technology in logistics, voter registration and the detection of anomalies ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the AI and Democracy Forum 2026, organised by Yiaga Africa and its partners.
He said artificial intelligence could improve election administration but must not be allowed to determine electoral outcomes.
“No, algorithms will not and must never decide the 2027 vote. 2027 votes must be decided by the sovereign people of Nigeria,” Amupitan said.
The two-day forum, themed “Safeguarding the 2027 General Elections in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, brought together electoral officials from Nigeria and other African countries, security agencies, civil society groups, media organisations and technology companies.
Amupitan said the commission was working to ensure that artificial intelligence strengthened democracy rather than undermined it.
“Our task, therefore, at this forum and within the commission, is to ensure that AI remains a servant of democracy, not its master,” he said.
The INEC chairman disclosed that the commission had established an AI unit within its Information and Communication Technology department and was finalising a framework with support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and other partners.
He said the framework would be guided by integrity, transparency, human intervention and public auditing.
Amupitan said AI could help INEC address logistical challenges involved in conducting elections across 176,846 polling units in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, predictive modelling, geospatial analysis and dynamic routing could help the commission plan the movement of personnel and election materials, particularly to remote communities and areas affected by insecurity.
He explained that machine-learning systems could analyse traffic patterns, weather forecasts, road conditions and security incidents to identify suitable routes for election logistics.
AI could also help INEC monitor warehouse stocks, forecast demand for non-sensitive materials and identify supply-chain problems before election day, he added.
The chairman said the commission had tested some of the systems during elections conducted since he assumed office, with improvements recorded in the early deployment of materials and commencement of voting.
On election results, Amupitan said AI could flag mathematical inconsistencies, unusual patterns and image-quality problems in uploaded polling-unit results before they were accepted into INEC's results management system.
He stressed, however, that such tools would complement human oversight and existing legal procedures rather than replace them.
The commission is also using AI-enhanced biometric identification to detect duplicate voter records. Amupitan said the technology could accelerate the identification of duplicate facial and fingerprint records in the national voters' register.
He added that INEC had digitised candidate nominations through its Candidate Nomination Portal, which had processed more than 15,000 nominations from 22 political parties ahead of the 2027 elections.
The chairman warned that artificial intelligence could also be exploited to attack electoral infrastructure and manipulate information, making cybersecurity a priority for the commission.
He said INEC was working with experts to identify vulnerabilities and threats to its digital platforms.
Meanwhile, Yiaga Africa Executive Director, Samson Itodo, warned that the use of technology alone would not guarantee credible elections, stressing that the integrity of those managing electoral systems was equally important.
“It is one thing to deploy technology; it is another thing for the personal integrity of those managing those technologies to deliver,” Itodo said.
He said public confidence remained a major challenge ahead of the 2027 elections, citing a recent Yiaga Africa national voting intention survey which, according to him, indicated doubts among Nigerians about the credibility of the electoral process and whether their votes would count.
Itodo also raised concerns about AI-powered platforms being developed to aggregate election results ahead of the polls.
While encouraging stakeholders to use independent tools to monitor the results process, he stressed that only INEC had the legal authority to declare election results and winners.
He urged organisations developing such platforms to ensure their systems were accurate, transparent and open to auditing.
The forum is expected to produce recommendations on the responsible use of artificial intelligence in Nigeria's electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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