The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed concerns about the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the 2027 general elections in Nigeria. According to INEC, the growing accessibility of generative AI has made it considerably harder to detect fabricated audio, videos, and images. This development raises concerns about the potential impact on voters and electoral credibility. INEC's Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, signed a statement highlighting these concerns.
INEC's National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, raised the concerns in Abuja while declaring open a capacity-building workshop for Public Affairs Officers drawn from across the states. Haruna noted that the threat extended beyond fabricated content, as AI could also be deployed to produce highly targeted messages designed to feed conflicting narratives to different groups of voters. He emphasized that generative AI has made it cheaper and considerably harder to detect manipulated audio, video, and images.
The opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed fears that the 2027 elections may have already been undermined due to the wave of attacks on political opposition parties and the inability of security operatives to bring perpetrators to book. The party's National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, accused President Bola Tinubu of providing philosophical background for thuggery and violence with his comments that all is fair in politics. The ADC requested Tinubu to withdraw his comments or explain what he meant.
The ADC also accused the ruling party of plans to use thugs and violence to scare opposition, intimidate voters, and rig the polls. Abdullahi stated that the party had cataloged all attacks on the ADC across the country and would make a formal presentation to the international community and security agencies in Nigeria for records and possible actions. The party alleged that violence orchestrated by the APC resulted in the death of opposition party members, preventing the party from campaigning across Nigeria.
A socio-political group, Nigeria Forward (NF), has urged Northern Nigeria to drop its quest for power in 2027, saying the region should allow the South leader to do two terms, as the North had eight years between 2015 and 2023. The group's co-convener and Kano State Commissioner of Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya, explained that the North-South power rotation has been maintained between the two regions since 1999 to foster national unity and even development across the country.
NF's call is based on the principle of power rotation between the North and South. The group urged political stakeholders in Northern Nigeria to respect this principle and support Tinubu, from the South, to complete the eight-year presidential tenure. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology and co-convener of the movement, Dr. Kingsley Udeh, described the administration's development trajectory as "reform to infrastructure, infrastructure to connectivity, connectivity to production, production to jobs, and jobs to prosperity."
Udeh called on Nigerians to support Tinubu's re-election in 2027 to consolidate the reforms. He urged NF members to make evidence, inclusiveness, innovation, and national unity the foundation of their activities. The group's message of "Together We Move Nigeria Forward" should translate into a commitment to service, citizenship, and national development.
Key points
- INEC warns of AI-generated content threat to 2027 elections in Nigeria.
- Opposition party ADC accuses President Tinubu of promoting violence and thuggery.
- Socio-political group NF urges Northern Nigeria to drop quest for power in 2027.
