The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, charged newsroom leaders across the country to engage in rigorous fact-checking and digital verification against artificial intelligence-driven deepfakes and to be wary of announcing unofficial results.
The commission warned that synthetic disinformation poses an existential threat to public trust and democratic stability ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
Amupitan, represented by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Enugu State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Chukwu, gave the charge on Thursday at the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference, ANEC, 2026 holding in Enugu.
Delivering his address titled, “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,” Prof. Amupitan cautioned that generative AI, voice cloning, and deepfake video synthesis had democratised mass deception, enabling political saboteurs to produce photorealistic videos of election officials, cloned audio files, and doctored result sheets designed to incite public outrage and delegitimise democratic outcomes.
A statement by Adedayo Oketola, Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, quoted the INEC chairman as urging the leadership of the media to institutionalise specialised fact-checking desks, deploy forensic image analysis software, and strictly adhere to statutory protocols requiring that official election results be verified exclusively through INEC before publication.
“We have moved far beyond simple political bias, hyperbole, or unverified rumours into an era of synthetically manufactured reality. Generative artificial intelligence, voice cloning, deepfake video synthesis, and automated bot networks have democratised mass deception,” Amupitan said.
According to the INEC boss, “Malicious operatives no longer need a printing press or broadcast license to deceive millions. With modest computing power, they can produce a photorealistic video of an electoral official purportedly declaring false results in a dark room; a cloned audio file of an INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner instructing staff to manipulate voting devices on election eve;
“Manipulated result sheets engineered to mimic official security features, flooded onto social media minutes after polling closes to create an illusion of fraud before collation even begins.
“The primary danger of synthetic disinformation is not merely that it tricks citizens into believing a specific falsehood, but it causes the systemic destruction of public trust. When everything can be faked, citizens begin to doubt genuine, verified facts provided by constitutional authorities.
“When deepfakes render lies believable, real truth is greeted with skepticism. Cynicism replaces civic engagement, leading voters to ask: Why stand in line for hours if the outcome is already manipulated on a screen? That mental retreat is where democracy begins to decay.
“Disinformation attacks the electorate’s cognitive sovereignty, turning elections from a peaceful contest of ideas into a volatile battleground of manipulated emotions, ethnic tension, and pre-packaged outrage.
“For an election management body, administrative success on the ground can be instantly erased on a smartphone screen by a well-timed, algorithmically boosted deepfake.”
Responding to the threat environment, Amupitan disclosed that INEC had transitioned from defensive anxiety to a proactive technological offensive.
He said the Commission had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department and commenced deploying automated AI auditing tools within the Results Management process to detect discrepancies before final verification.
He emphasized that all automated checks remained strictly governed by a five-pillar AI Governance Framework and subject to mandatory human auditing.
Amupitan also cautioned media organisations against publishing or amplifying privately collated election results ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
He warned that such reports could create conflicting narratives and undermine confidence in officially declared results.
Amupitan urged editors to ensure that their platforms did not become channels for unverified election figures.
He said: “Let’s resist premature result declarations. Under the Electoral Act, statutory authority to declare election results rests exclusively with INEC.
“Amplifying unverified, privately collated figures published by political actors on social media creates conflicting public narratives that undermine official outcomes. We should use our platforms to educate citizens on spotting synthetic content, fake letterheads, and algorithmically generated rage-bait.”
The INEC chairman warned that amplifying unverified, privately collated figures published by political actors on social media could create conflicting public narratives capable of undermining official election outcomes.
He said the media had a critical responsibility to protect the integrity of the electoral process, particularly as artificial intelligence and social media were making it increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic information from manipulated content.
According to him, the pressure on newsrooms to be the first to publish should not override the obligation to verify information during elections.
“I appeal to the Nigerian Guild of Editors to view media gatekeeping as a critical component of national security and democratic defense. To effectively combat AI-driven disinformation before, during, and after elections, we must build a collaborative firewall.
Reinforcing the imperative for media vigilance during his opening address, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Eze Anaba, emphasized:
“We have a responsibility to ensure that our democracy survives. The media must hold power accountable and provide the space for diverse voices to be heard. The political actors alone are not in charge of our democracy, the judiciary and the media have a role to play to strengthen our democracy.”
