Nigeria: Ai Won't Decide Outcome of 2027 General Election - INEC Chairman

What the report says

Nigeria’s electoral commission says artificial intelligence should support, not determine, the country’s 2027 general election. In Abuja, INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan told the AI and Democracy Forum 2026 that the final choice of leaders must remain with voters, even as technology becomes more important in election administration and information management. The event was organized by Yiaga Africa with INEC and several technology, civil society and development partners, and drew participants from multiple African electoral bodies, security agencies and the media.

According to the report published by Premium Times and carried by AllAfrica, INEC is already using digital tools in areas such as voter registration, candidate nomination and results handling. Amupitan said the commission has set up an AI unit and is working on a governance framework for the technology, with principles including transparency, human oversight and public auditing. He said AI could help with logistics planning, route optimization, warehouse monitoring, anomaly detection in results and cybersecurity.

The chairman also pointed to the scale and logistical difficulty of Nigeria’s elections, citing the large voter roll, thousands of polling units and hard-to-reach communities. He said technology can improve efficiency, but warned it could also be used to spread misinformation or attack election systems. Yiaga Africa’s Samson Itodo said public trust remains a major concern heading into 2027, especially after the disputes and skepticism surrounding recent elections.