2027 Elections: Nigerians, Not Algorithms, Will Decide Winners — Amupitan
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash O. Amupitan, SAN, has declared that artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms will not determine the outcome of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, insisting that the sovereign will of the electorate must remain the ultimate authority in choosing the country’s leaders.
Amupitan made the declaration at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, organised by INEC in collaboration with Yiaga Africa, under the theme, “Safeguarding the 2027 General Elections in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
“Algorithms will not, and must never, decide the 2027 vote,” he said, stressing that technology must serve human agency, institutional efficiency and administrative transparency rather than replace democratic decision-making.
“The choice of who leads Nigeria belongs exclusively to the Nigerian people. Algorithms may predict patterns; they may optimise routes, and they may even suggest preferences. But they do not have a conscience, they do not have a country, and they do not have a vote,” the INEC chairman stated.
The forum brought together the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions and Chairman of Senegal’s Electoral Commission, Mr Abdoulaye Sylla; members of the diplomatic corps; INEC national commissioners and resident electoral commissioners; representatives of African electoral bodies; development partners; political parties; civil society organisations; media executives; security agencies; technology companies; and academics.
Amupitan acknowledged that AI would significantly influence Nigeria’s electoral environment by shaping information flows, influencing election logistics and changing the strategies employed by both democratic stakeholders and those seeking to undermine the electoral process.
“While algorithms will not decide the vote, AI will undeniably shape the information environment in which citizens form their choices, influence the speed and security of electoral logistics, and alter the tactics of both democratic actors and anti-democratic disruptors,” he said.
Describing the 2027 general elections as one of the most complex administrative exercises in the world, the INEC chairman cited the scale of the electoral process, which involves more than 103 million registered voters, 176,846 polling units across 774 local government areas and multiple elections covering the presidency, National Assembly, governorships and state Houses of Assembly.
He said the commission had achieved 10 of the 14 major operational milestones stipulated under the Electoral Act 2026, procured additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) units and digitised candidate nominations through the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.
According to him, the portal has processed more than 15,000 nominations submitted by 22 political parties, while the commission has also introduced online voter registration for the first time in Nigeria.
Rather than treating AI solely as a threat, Amupitan identified several opportunities for its responsible application in election administration. These include predictive logistics and route optimisation, automated assistance with results auditing, biometric database management, multilingual voter engagement through natural language processing and AI-driven cybersecurity systems.
Read Also:
He, however, emphasised that technological innovation must operate within clear legal and institutional safeguards, reaffirming INEC’s commitment to human oversight throughout the electoral process.
He said no critical electoral decision, including result collation, voter accreditation and candidate qualification, would be fully automated or delegated to an autonomous system.
“Human accountability, statutory oversight, and judicial review will remain paramount at every stage of the electoral chain,” he added.
The INEC chairman also warned that generative AI, deepfakes, synthetic media, targeted digital advertising, algorithmic bias and automated cyberattacks posed significant risks to electoral integrity.
“The greatest threat we face is not the hacking of a ballot box, but the hacking of the voter’s mind,” he said.
He cautioned that the proliferation of fabricated audio-visual content and other forms of AI-generated disinformation could undermine voters’ ability to make informed electoral choices.
“If a voter cannot distinguish between truth and a synthetic lie, the foundation of informed consent crumbles,” Amupitan warned.
As part of efforts to address these challenges, he announced that INEC had established a specialised AI Unit within its Information and Communication Technology Directorate.
The unit, he said, would deploy real-time digital monitoring tools, deepfake detection software and data analytics expertise to identify technical threats and track attempts to manipulate information targeting the electoral process.
Amupitan also called for coordinated action involving political parties, civil society organisations, the media, security agencies, technology companies and the judiciary to strengthen safeguards ahead of the elections.
He urged political parties to adopt an Ethical AI Code of Conduct, while calling on civil society organisations to scrutinise algorithmic transparency and monitor digital campaign spending.
He further urged security agencies and judicial institutions to develop specialised capabilities in cybercrime investigation and digital forensics, while encouraging media organisations to establish internal digital forensic desks to verify user-generated content before publication or broadcast.
To strengthen early detection and response to AI-generated falsehoods, the INEC chairman proposed the establishment of an Electoral Information Integrity Coalition involving the commission, civil society groups, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, the Nigeria Fact-Checking Coalition, media organisations and telecommunications operators.
The proposed coalition would serve as an early-warning network for identifying and responding to viral disinformation capable of disrupting the electoral process.
Returning to the central question of who would determine the outcome of the 2027 elections, Amupitan maintained that the decision would ultimately rest with ordinary Nigerians exercising their constitutional rights.
He cited citizens across the country, including traders in Aba, farmers in Sokoto, teachers in Ibadan, technology innovators in Lagos, fishermen in Bayelsa and students in Maiduguri, as the people whose choices would shape the nation’s political future.
“On election day in 2027, it will be the thumbprint of the Nigerian citizen, guided by their own will and their own hopes, that decides our future,” he said.
“INEC’s job is to ensure that the voice of the people is heard clearly, above the noise of the machines.”
He concluded that the future of democracy should not be dictated by the capabilities of emerging technologies but determined by citizens through established laws, democratic institutions and accountable governance.
By PRNigeria
