Deepfakes, disinformation: INEC warns AI threatens 2027 election credibility

INEC sounds alarm over AI misinformation threat to 2027 polls

ABUJA — The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that the misuse of generative artificial intelligence poses a growing and increasingly urgent threat to the credibility of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.

According to the electoral body, manipulated audio, video and images have become cheaper and harder to detect.

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ValidViewNetwork can confirm that the warning came from National Commissioner Mohammed Kudu Haruna, who chairs INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, while declaring open a capacity-building workshop for the commission’s Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) in Abuja.

No longer a distant risk

Haruna said the threat had moved beyond theoretical concern, noting that generative AI could be used not just to fabricate content but to target different groups of voters with conflicting narratives designed to shape the information environment ahead of the polls.

He relayed INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan’s earlier warning that electoral credibility today depends as much on the information space as on ballot papers and voting technology.

Training the frontline communicators

ValidViewNetwork gathered that the workshop, themed around strengthening PAOs for “credible, verified and responsible election communication,” is designed to sharpen participants’ skills in content verification and escalation procedures.

The Voter Education and Publicity department describes the workshop as the start of a sustained engagement rather than a one-off exercise.

According to reports gotten by ValidViewNetwork, further capacity-building programmes are already at an advanced planning stage with support from development partners, as INEC works to shore up public trust in its communication ahead of an election cycle increasingly shaped by digital manipulation risks.

The road to 2027

According to reports gotten by ValidViewNetwork, further capacity-building programmes are already at an advanced planning stage with support from development partners, as INEC works to shore up public trust in its communication ahead of an election cycle increasingly shaped by digital manipulation risks.