2027: AI-generated photos cast doubt on voter register, expert warns

File photo: Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo

The Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo, has questioned the credibility of Nigeria’s voter register ahead of the 2027 general election, alleging that artificial intelligence-generated information and photographs have been inserted into the database.

Nwankwo warned that the alleged irregularities, alongside concerns about the Independent National Electoral Commission’s preparedness, could undermine the credibility of the elections and expose the process to manipulation.

Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, he questioned the increase in the number of registered voters from more than 90 million to 103 million, arguing that the figure might not accurately reflect the number of eligible voters in the country.

He stated, “Technology has of course come forward, and now what we see is what is now referred to as AI-generated information and photographs that have been inserted into the voter register.”

He said civil society organisations and individuals had used different technological tools, including AI, to examine the register.

He added, “And the verdict you see, of course, is that using AI, you can tell quite clearly that the voter register has very serious problems.”

Questioning the increase in the number of registered voters, Nwankwo said, “We did see voter register that jumped from 90-something million to 103 million. And questions are arising as to how that jump happened and who is on that voter register, I think that we do not have 103 million persons who are eligible to vote in this country.”

He said the country needed to address the problem, although he acknowledged that introducing an entirely new register before the 2027 election might no longer be feasible.

“It means that we must go back to the drawing board. And I think it’s too late, though, for 2027 that you talk of a new voter register. But this country must come to terms with the fact that its current voter register has no credibility,” Nwankwo said.

Nwankwo also raised concerns about the transparency of INEC’s preparations, particularly its communication with political parties.

He added, “You must brief the political parties. You must call them in and say, these are what you are doing. But is INEC doing so? No. The parties don’t know what is going on, and it should be that the parties should know what INEC is doing.

“So I don’t see that communication going on. I don’t see INEC putting out information on its preparedness.”

The PLAC director said wider gaps in the preparations could be difficult to address before the elections.

He said, “And as we speak right now, looking at the threshold document, it is clear that there are lapses and gaps that may be difficult to rectify as we speak.”

He also warned that shortcomings in the process of transferring voters to new polling units could disenfranchise more Nigerians in 2027.

Nwankwo said, “I think you will see an even larger number of people disenfranchised in the 2027 election, because INEC has not done what it should do to ensure that people can move and have their voting unit migrate to where they have recently moved to.”

Nwankwo further questioned whether the commission had provided adequate guidance on how citizens could challenge errors or object to entries in the voter register.

He noted, “I have no evidence as we speak right now that INEC has followed up from displaying the voter register to including information on how citizens can make those objections and claims.”

He alleged that questionable entries could be linked to mobilisation efforts during previous continuous voter registration exercises.

Nwankwo added, “If a lot of us remember, when INEC opened the window for continuous voter registration, a lot of the political parties and politicians went to their constituencies and said they were mobilising registration of voters. And that’s when this window opened, and you had all sorts of names generated.”

Drawing comparisons with previous registration exercises, he said the country had encountered similar concerns in the past.

“I think we need to look at the previous exercises prior to 2010, when all sorts of names were entered into the register. Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, and all of that number of names. And people were using palm panels to put in fingerprints and so on,” he noted.

The PLAC director said the Electoral Act provides for the display of the voter register and a process through which citizens can submit claims and objections before the register is finalised.

He stated, “The Electoral Act requires that INEC displays the voter’s register within a certain period. I think it’s 90 days before the elections. And it’s supposed to receive claims and objections, which means that once it displays it, it’s supposed to be on display for at least seven days.

“And it takes claims and objections and then goes and finalises a voter register that should be ready for elections at least 60 days before the elections.”

He argued that technology should also make the register more accessible to the public.

PLAC boss said, “And everyone, everyone who can pay for it is entitled to access to the voter register. And in these days, when you have technology, it means that you really shouldn’t be paying too much other than access this on INEC’s portal.”

Nwankwo also said the Electoral Act did not mandate the commission to use artificial intelligence in conducting elections.

He added, “I must say very, very clearly that there is nothing in the Electoral Act that says that INEC should use AI. And that means that we even have to define what AI is.”

Asked whether the 2027 elections should be postponed to give INEC more time to address the concerns, Nwankwo declined to support such a move, citing the disruption caused by earlier changes to the election timetable.

“I am not going to go into conversation about a postponement of election, because I do know that there was a push to even have these elections conducted in November this year. And it was only when references were made and some of us said, look, you can’t have an election in November because the constitution gives you a 30-day to 150-day window to conduct elections, and November doesn’t fall into that.

“That’s when the next available date after November was fixed for January 16th. And INEC prosecuted all the options, and this affected political parties tremendously in terms of how they should conduct primaries, the timelines and so on,” he mentioned.

He said he would not advocate postponement because more time would not necessarily guarantee the commission’s readiness.

He said, “So I would never be one to say postpone elections, because even if you were to postpone elections, will INEC be ready? And I make the point quite clearly that I do not think that we’re all ready for these elections.”

Nwankwo warned that a last-minute decision to postpone the polls could damage public confidence and national security.

He added, “And I think it would be a shame if this country were to come close to January 16th to hear anybody talk about postponement of elections. I think it would be a serious, serious breach of national security and indeed national confidence if this were to happen.”

He warned that weaknesses in the electoral process could be exploited to manipulate the outcome of the elections.

“I think that given our electoral environment and given recent electoral operations, it is quite clear that you do have a lot of lapses that could be used to manipulate the elections. But I must say again, we don’t have a credible voter register going into 2027,” he said.