The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has raised fresh concerns over preparations for the 2027 general election, warning that funding gaps and the rapid spread of artificial intelligence-driven disinformation could threaten the credibility of the polls.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed that the commission is still awaiting the full release of funds allocated for election technology and operations, even as preparations intensify for the crucial election.

Amupitan, who was represented by National Commissioner Sani Adam, spoke in Abuja at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria, ACSPN.

He said INEC had proposed a substantial budget for the 2027 election, including funding for technology, election operations and the replacement of accreditation devices lost or damaged during the 2023 electoral cycle.

However, he said the commission was yet to receive the full allocation.

“I should also be candid about the resourcing reality behind these ambitions,” Amupitan said.

“INEC has proposed a substantial budget for the 2027 general election, with significant allocations set aside specifically for technology and election operations, including the procurement of new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged during the last cycle.

“Full release of these funds is still being awaited, yet preparations continue.”

Despite the funding constraints, Amupitan said INEC’s Information and Communications Technology team had begun discussions with manufacturers on the procurement of new devices.

He added that the commission was simultaneously preparing for a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology infrastructure and considering a mock presidential election designed to test its systems under conditions similar to election day.

INEC TO STRESS-TEST BVAS, IREV

The INEC chairman said the commission had learnt painful lessons from the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, during the 2023 general election.

He acknowledged that technologies introduced to strengthen confidence in the electoral process could themselves become sources of distrust when they failed or experienced delays.

Amupitan said INEC would therefore not simply redeploy the same systems in 2027 and expect a different outcome.

Instead, he said the commission was pursuing a comprehensive technology audit covering system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery arrangements.

The objective, he explained, was to identify vulnerabilities before election day rather than discover them when millions of voters were relying on the systems.

INEC is also exploring a mock presidential election to test accreditation, result transmission and result-viewing systems under conditions designed to mirror the actual election.

“These are not cosmetic gestures,” Amupitan said, describing the proposed exercise as a direct response to concerns over the reliability of electoral technology during the 2023 polls.

‘THREAT HAS MOVED TO INFORMATION SPACE’

But beyond technology and funding, Amupitan warned that the biggest threat to the 2027 election may increasingly come from the information environment.

He cautioned that even flawless performance by INEC’s technology on election day would not, by itself, guarantee an election Nigerians would trust.

“But even a flawless technical performance on election day will not, by itself, protect the integrity of an election in 2027. The threat has migrated. It has moved from the accreditation machine to the information ecosystem that surrounds it,” he said.

Amupitan identified generative AI as a growing threat capable of producing convincing fake videos, cloned voices and fabricated images at unprecedented speed.

He warned that Nigerians could be confronted with fake videos showing INEC officials announcing results that were never declared, cloned voices making presidential candidates appear to concede defeat, or fabricated images purporting to show already-marked ballot papers before voting begins.

“These are no longer hypothetical scenarios reserved for science fiction panels,” he warned.

According to him, the danger is not only the sophistication of AI-generated content but also the speed at which false information can spread across the country.

He said a fabricated claim could circulate nationally within hours, potentially eroding public confidence before INEC has an opportunity to respond.

INEC PLANS RAPID RESPONSE TO AI DISINFORMATION

Amupitan said the commission would strengthen its digital monitoring and rapid-response mechanisms to identify and counter false claims about the electoral process before they gain widespread traction.

He warned that INEC could no longer afford to take days to respond to misinformation capable of reaching millions of Nigerians within hours.

“In an environment where a fabricated claim can circulate nationally within hours, an election management body that takes days to issue a clarification has effectively conceded the narrative before it has spoken,” he said.

The INEC chairman also called for electoral technology and public communication to be treated as interconnected components of election security.

He argued that a technically secure electoral system could still generate suspicion if Nigerians did not understand how it worked, while an adequately explained process could fail if the underlying technology was unreliable.

With more than 90 million registered voters expected to participate in the 2027 election cycle, Amupitan said INEC’s challenge would be to ensure that its technology works reliably while simultaneously protecting the electoral process from an increasingly sophisticated information war.

The commission’s preparations will therefore hinge on two critical fronts: securing adequate funding to deploy and test election technology, and building the capacity to detect and counter AI-powered disinformation before it undermines public confidence in the polls.