2027: INEC warns against fake poll postponement announcements

The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned that fabricated audio and video announcements could be deployed on the eve of the 2027 general elections to falsely announce a postponement of voting.

The commission said such misinformation could exploit the limited time available for verification and response shortly before polling, potentially creating confusion among voters.

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, raised the concern on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the National Summit on Electoral Information Integrity, themed, “Beyond the Ballot: AI, FIMI, and the Integrity of Nigeria’s 2027 Elections.”

From the same event, PUNCH Online had earlier reported Amupitan’s position that AI was not an enemy of democracy, highlighting its potential benefits in election management and concerns over its misuse to generate deepfakes, manipulate voter information and undermine electoral credibility.

He identified the period immediately before elections as particularly vulnerable, warning that those behind digital manipulation could deliberately time false announcements to take advantage of communication gaps.

Amupitan cited the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election, when an AI-generated audio recording purportedly capturing a party leader discussing vote buying went viral two days before voting, during an election silence period.

He said fact-checkers, election authorities and media organisations could not respond in time to the recording.

“This case proves that public awareness alone cannot counter well-funded, hyper-targeted digital manipulation,” he said.

The INEC chairman warned that waiting until fabricated content had gone viral before responding could make it difficult for authorities to correct the damage.

“When a manipulated video achieves viral saturation within thirty minutes of release, a formal text rebuttal issued three hours later struggles to undo the cognitive damage,” he said.

To address the challenge, Amupitan said the commission was developing internal mechanisms to debunk viral misinformation within minutes of its emergence.

He listed real-time response, technological safeguards and voter education as priorities in its preparations for the 2027 elections.

On voter education, he said INEC would move “beyond ‘how to vote’ to ‘how to verify’”, equipping citizens to distinguish authentic commission communications from fabricated announcements and identify appropriate platforms for verification.

The chairman also disclosed that the commission was strengthening its digital infrastructure and collaborating with major social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and X, formerly Twitter.

“We already have an MOU with TikTok,” he said.

Amupitan called for coordinated action involving social media companies, telecommunications providers, media organisations, fact-checkers, journalists and security agencies.

He said social media platforms should establish fast-track channels for reviewing and tagging or removing demonstrably manipulated content, while telecommunications providers and media organisations should maintain clear channels for verified institutional alerts.

He also urged fact-checkers and independent journalists to have direct access to designated INEC communication desks to confirm information within minutes rather than hours.

The commission wants the summit to produce three outcomes: clear inter-agency escalation protocols, institutionalised fact-checking desks, and simulation and crisis stress-testing through tabletop exercises of AI-driven election scenarios.

Amupitan said the commission, working with a development partner, had recently concluded a workshop on Strategic Communication where some of the scenarios were simulated and addressed.

He also warned of the “Liar’s Dividend”, whereby the existence of AI-generated fabrications could make people doubt even authentic information.

However, he said the proposed measures were not intended to police political opinions or restrict freedom of expression.

“The goal is not to police opinion, regulate political debate, or restrict citizens’ freedom of expression. The sole objective is to protect the authenticity of operational election information so that when a citizen makes a choice at the ballot box, that choice is based on genuine facts rather than engineered deception,” he said.

Amupitan disclosed that INEC had been counting down to January 16, 2027, when the first ballots would be cast in the presidential and National Assembly elections.

Under Section 98(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, campaigns must end 24 hours before polling day. Campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled to end on January 14, 2027, while those for the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections will close on February 4, 2027.

The INEC chairman said the summit, supported under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria III framework, must produce practical measures rather than end with recommendations that would not be implemented.

“Let our goal be certain: to ensure that by 2027, the Nigerian voter is empowered by information, not paralysed by it,” he said.