INEC cites concerns about AI threat to 2027 elections - The Guardian Nigeria News

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in creating and spreading manipulated content is “no longer a distant, theoretical risk” to the 2027 general elections.

On its part, the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) expressed fears that the elections may have already been undermined following the wave of attacks on political opposition parties and the inability of security operatives to bring perpetrators to book.

The party also called on INEC to step up measures that will show its neutrality and protection of votes amid the increasing rate of violence and the momentum it is gathering.

Meanwhile, 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, the way the North had eight years between 2015 and 2023.

INEC said the growing accessibility of generative AI made it considerably harder to detect fabricated audio, videos and images, raising concerns about the potential impact on voters and electoral credibility.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, yesterday.

The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, raised the concern yesterday in Abuja while declaring open a capacity-building workshop for Public Affairs Officers drawn from across the states.

Haruna said the threat extended beyond fabricated content, noting that AI could also be deployed to produce highly targeted messages designed to feed conflicting narratives to different groups of voters.

“Generative AI has made it cheaper and considerably harder to detect manipulated audio, video and images,” he said, adding that the development made it imperative for electoral technology and electoral communication to be treated as interconnected aspects of election management.

ADC took a more direct jab at President Bola Tinubu, requesting him to withdraw his recent comments that all is fair in politics or explain what he meant.

The National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, told journalists in Abuja yesterday that it had catalogued 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 ADC spokesman said the violence allegedly orchestrated by APC that resulted in the death of opposition party members, preventing the party from campaigning across Nigeria, should be treated as having already undermined the outcome of the 2027 elections.

bdullahi accused Tinubu of providing philosophical background for thuggery and violence by his comments that all is fair in politics.

Urging the President to withdraw the comments, the ADC accused the ruling party of plans to use thugs and violence to scare opposition, intimidate voters and rig the polls.

DURING the formal unveiling of NF yesterday in Abuja, the group explained that the North should respect the gentleman’s agreement of power rotation between the South and North.

According to the co-convener of the group and Kano State Commissioner of Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya, since 1999, the North-South power rotation has been maintained between the two regions with a view to fostering national unity and even development across the country.

NF urged political stakeholders in Northern Nigeria to respect the principle of power rotation and support Tinubu, from the South, to complete the eight-year presidential tenure.

It said returning the presidency to the North after just one term would undermine the principle of power rotation and risk reopening sectional tensions that historically shaped Nigeria’s presidential politics.

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology and co-convener of the movement, Dr Kingsley Udeh, said the Federal Government’s reforms were designed to move Nigeria from infrastructure and connectivity to production, jobs and prosperity.

Udeh described the administration’s development trajectory as “reform to infrastructure, infrastructure to connectivity, connectivity to production, production to jobs and jobs to prosperity,” and 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, saying the platform’s message of “Together We Move Nigeria Forward” should translate into a commitment to service, citizenship and national development.