The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed artificial intelligence-generated photographs discovered in the national register of voters and identified officials allegedly involved in the practice across 10 states for disciplinary action.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation.
The webinar, titled “AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote,” examined the growing challenges posed by artificial intelligence-generated content and misinformation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Haruna described the appearance of AI-generated photographs in the voters’ register as a major concern, saying the commission had already removed the images identified.
He acknowledged that INEC faced challenges in preventing members of the public from digitally manipulating or enhancing photographs before uploading them during voter registration.
However, he said the commission had greater control over cases involving its own personnel and had identified officials implicated in the practice.
“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 affected officials had been flagged and would face disciplinary action.
“We have their names across about 10 states, and obviously, they are going to face disciplinary action,” he said.
The INEC commissioner also disclosed that the commission had developed a policy framework to guide the use of artificial intelligence in the electoral process but was still working to finalise it.
According to him, the rapid development of AI technology has created regulatory challenges for countries across the world, making it difficult to establish comprehensive rules governing its application.
Haruna said INEC had outlined how it intended to deploy the technology and would make its policy available to the media after finalising it.
The development comes amid concerns over the integrity of the preliminary voters’ register published by INEC on October 26, following the circulation of images suspected to have been generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence.
The commission had earlier explained that the online register was the same preliminary document displayed at Registration Areas nationwide between October 9 and 15 for claims, objections and corrections.
INEC also said its data-cleaning process was ongoing ahead of the certification of the final register of voters, scheduled for December 15, 2026.
The commission is expected to address identified irregularities as part of efforts to ensure the accuracy of the register ahead of the 2027 general elections.