POLITICS
INEC Identifies Staff Behind Fake Voters’ Register Photos In 10 States
INEC Identifies Staff Behind Fake Voters’ Register Photos In 10 States
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified officials in 10 states allegedly involved in uploading artificial intelligence-generated photographs into the national Register of Voters.
The commission also disclosed that the questionable photographs had been removed from the register, while the affected officials had been flagged 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.
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The webinar was titled, “AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote.”
Haruna described the development as one of the major challenges confronting the commission, particularly as the country prepares for the 2027 general elections.
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He said INEC had already removed several AI-generated photographs uploaded into the voters’ register, adding that investigations had established the involvement of some of its personnel.
According to him, while the commission might find it difficult to prevent members of the public from digitally manipulating their photographs before uploading them, it had the authority to deal with cases involving its own officials.
“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,” he said.
On the involvement of INEC personnel, Haruna said the commission had identified the officials concerned and commenced steps to address the violations.
“But the ones involving our own staff, where it is our own staff that did so, that one is within our control. We are in the process of addressing it. They have been flagged,” he added.
The national commissioner further disclosed that INEC had obtained the names of the affected officials across about 10 states, assuring that disciplinary measures would follow.
“We have their names across about 10 states, and obviously, they are going to face disciplinary action,” Haruna said.
On the commission’s preparedness to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in the electoral process, he disclosed that INEC had developed an AI policy which was still undergoing finalisation.
He explained that the rapid development of artificial intelligence had created new challenges for electoral management bodies across the world, making it difficult to establish comprehensive regulatory frameworks.
“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.
Haruna, however, said the commission had already outlined its proposed approach to the deployment of artificial intelligence and would soon conclude the policy for public consideration.
“But we have at least some ideas of what we want to do and how we want to use that. We have that policy. Very soon, we will concretise it, and we will be able to share it with the media,” he added.
The development comes amid concerns over the credibility of the preliminary Register of Voters released by INEC ahead of the 2027 general elections, following the discovery of suspicious photographs and other irregularities in some registration records.
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