The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed artificial intelligence-generated photographs from the national voters' register and flagged officials involved in the practice across about 10 states for disciplinary action.
INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar titled "AI, Misinformation and Nigeria's 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote," organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation.
- AI-generated photographs uploaded to the register have been taken down
- INEC officials linked to the practice in about 10 states face discipline
- The commission says its AI policy is drafted but not yet finalised
What INEC says its own staff did
Haruna, who chairs INEC's Information and Voter Education Committee, described the discovery as a major challenge for the commission ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He acknowledged limits on stopping members of the public from enhancing their photographs before uploading them during registration, but said cases involving INEC's own officials were within the commission's control.
"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 said. "We have their names across about 10 states, and obviously, they are going to face disciplinary action."
Why the register is under scrutiny
The disclosure follows this week's announcement by INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan that 1,609,553 invalid records — 1,608,660 confirmed invalid registrations and 873 verified deceased voters — had been removed from the register after a technical audit of the 2025/2026 registration exercise.
That audit also identified 54 officials across 10 states as complicit in registration irregularities. The final register is due to be published on December 15, ahead of the January 16, 2027 elections.
What happens next
Haruna said INEC has developed a policy on the use of artificial intelligence but is still working to finalise it, as the commission moves to protect the credibility of the 2027 elections against AI-driven manipulation.
Credit: Punch report of November 11, 2026, of the PUNCH Media Foundation webinar. Follow @newstweetnaija on Instagram for the day's biggest stories.
