INEC Launches manhunt for officers throughout 10 states over AI picture scandal

Politics

By Linda Ikeji
11 November 2026, 2:11 pm

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has recognized officers in about 10 states who uploaded synthetic intelligence-generated images to Nigeria’s voters’ register. The fee mentioned it had eliminated the photographs and would take disciplinary motion towards the employees concerned.

INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna disclosed this on Wednesday, November 11, throughout a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation titled “AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote”.

Haruna, who chairs INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, described the uploads as one of many challenges the fee had encountered forward of the 2027 common elections.

“We have already seen one of the challenges, which is that a lot of AI-generated photographs were posted onto the voters’ register, which, as we have said, we have had to take down,” he mentioned.

Haruna mentioned it might be tough for INEC to stop members of the general public from digitally altering their images earlier than submitting them. He mentioned the fee may act immediately, nonetheless, in circumstances involving its personal employees.

“We have their names across about 10 states, and obviously, they are going to face disciplinary action,” he mentioned.

Haruna added that INEC had drafted a coverage on using AI within the electoral course of however had but to finalise it. He mentioned the expertise was evolving rapidly, making it tough even for superior democracies to develop detailed guidelines.

The fee has outlined the way it intends to make use of the expertise and plans to share the coverage with the media and the general public as soon as it’s finalised, Haruna mentioned.