By Omoyeni Ojeifo
Dispelling earlier speculation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explicitly excluded the use of artificial intelligence in determining the results of the 2027 general elections.
The commission reaffirmed that the mandate to choose Nigeria’s leadership rests solely with its voters.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, explained that technology should serve democracy by improving administrative efficiency, transparency and electoral integrity without replacing the will of voters
Amupitan made the disclosures at opening of the two days AI and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, on Wednesday themed around safeguarding Nigeria’s 2027 general elections in the age of artificial intelligence as reported by PerSecondNews correspondent.
“No algorithms should not and must never decide the 2027 elections,” he declared.
“Technology does not stand still. Neither can democracy,” Amupitan said, explaining that artificial intelligence was reshaping political communication and the information environments in which citizens form their choices.
The chairman disclosed that INEC had completed 10 of the 14 major activities scheduled for the 2027 general elections, despite strict statutory timelines under the Electoral Act 2026.
“I am happy to report that despite the very strict statutory timelines, very rigid and stressful, we have accomplished 10 out of 14 activities that will eventually culminate into the election programme,” he stated.
He also announced that the commission had procured additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, with consignments already arriving ahead of the polls.
“We have already procured and begun receiving consignments of additional BVAS units that will be required for the election, expanding hardware redundancy and technological resilience,” he said.
Amupitan disclosed that INEC’s digital candidate nomination portal had processed more than 15,000 nominations across 22 political parties, replacing the manual submission of nomination documents with electronic processing.
According to him, the commission had also introduced online voter registration during the final phase of its registration exercise, allowing eligible Nigerians to register remotely.
“It enabled a lot of Nigerians to meet up in the last-minute registration as voters because you can just register as a voter from the comfort of your home using your Android and other digital devices without having to visit any INEC office anymore,” he explained.
The chairman added that INEC had experimented with downloadable Permanent Voter Cards during the Osun governorship election to assist voters who had lost or damaged their cards.
Accoriding to Amupitan, artificial intelligence could help the commission deploy election personnel, vehicles, boats and sensitive materials more efficiently across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, particularly in hard-to-reach communities.
“Machine-learning algorithms can analyse historical traffic patterns, weather forecasts, road conditions and security incidents to generate optimal deployment routes for logistics vehicles across the terrains,” he said.
Amupitan also identified automated inventory systems as a potential application of AI, explaining that predictive analytics could help INEC forecast demand for non-sensitive materials, monitor warehouse stocks and prevent supply bottlenecks.
On electoral integrity, he cited biometric voter accreditation through BVAS and electronic transmission of polling-unit results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal as technological measures supporting the verification of electoral processes.
The chairman disclosed that he had overseen five major elections and more than 16 by-elections since assuming office on October 23, 2025, which civil society organisations and election observers had reported improvements in early deployment of materials and commencement of voting.
He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to delivering a credible 2027 elections.
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