Independent National Electoral Commission AI image incident

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that internal registration officers were responsible for introducing AI-generated photographs and other irregularities into the national voter registration system. These unauthorized entries were discovered during the commission's internal review process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

What happened

INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr. Lawrence Bayode, revealed that registration officers across multiple states utilized their official login credentials to bypass system integrity. By leveraging their authorized access, these individuals were able to input questionable data directly into the preliminary voters' register.

According to the commission, the irregularities were identified through the Automated Biometric System (ABS), which flagged the suspicious entries before the register was finalized. Dr. Bayode clarified that the compromised data consisted of a mix of AI-generated imagery and poor-quality registration photographs resulting from improper field practices. While the commission has successfully identified the methods used to inject these entries and the personnel responsible, the underlying motivations for these actions remain unclear. INEC is currently working to clean the register to ensure accuracy while adhering to the statutory 90-day deadline for publishing the preliminary voter list.