2027: AI Must Serve Democracy, Not Control It – INEC Chairman, Amupitan

Amupitan stated this on Wednesday at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, organised by INEC in partnership with Yiaga Africa.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has said artificial intelligence must remain a servant of democracy and not become the force that determines the outcome of Nigeria’s 2027 elections.

He declared that algorithms would not decide the 2027 vote, stressing that the power to choose Nigeria’s leaders belongs to the electorate.

“Algorithms will not, and must never, decide the 2027 vote,” Amupitan said.

He acknowledged, however, that AI would play an increasingly important role in the election by influencing how voters receive information, improving electoral logistics and changing the tactics of both legitimate political actors and those seeking to disrupt the process.

The INEC chairman identified deepfakes, synthetic media, targeted political advertising, algorithmic bias and automated cyberattacks among the major threats that could affect electoral integrity.

He warned that manipulating voters through false information could be more damaging than attacking physical election infrastructure.

“The greatest threat we face is not the hacking of a ballot box, but the hacking of the voter’s mind,” he said.

To strengthen its response, Amupitan disclosed that INEC had established a dedicated AI unit within its ICT Directorate to monitor digital threats, detect deepfakes and analyse information linked to attempts to manipulate the electoral process.

He said the Commission was also exploring AI applications in areas such as election logistics, route optimisation, biometric database management, result auditing, voter communication and cybersecurity.

However, he stressed that critical electoral processes would remain under human control.

According to him, voter accreditation, result collation, candidate qualification and other major electoral decisions would not be handed over to autonomous systems.

“Human accountability, statutory oversight, and judicial review will remain paramount at every stage of the electoral chain,” he said.

Amupitan said the 2027 election would involve more than 103 million registered voters and 176,846 polling units across the country, making it one of the largest and most complex electoral exercises on the continent.

He also disclosed that INEC had completed 10 of the 14 major operational milestones under the Electoral Act 2026, procured additional BVAS machines and processed more than 15,000 candidate nominations from 22 political parties through its digital nomination platform.

The INEC chairman urged political parties, media organisations, civil society groups, security agencies, technology companies and other stakeholders to work together to prevent AI-generated misinformation from undermining the 2027 elections.

He maintained that technology should strengthen Nigeria’s democratic institutions rather than replace the judgment of citizens.

Ultimately, Amupitan said, the 2027 election would be decided by Nigerian voters—not algorithms.