INEC Turns to AI for Election Verification While Nigerians Still Queue for PVCs and Results Vanish on IReV

The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced plans to deploy artificial intelligence for election result verification ahead of the 2027 general elections. The commission has created a dedicated AI Division within its Information and Communications Technology Department to detect anomalies, counter disinformation and audit results. INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan says the tools will operate with mandatory human oversight under a five-pillar AI governance framework.

This is the same INEC that has not fixed the problems Nigerians complained about in 2023. The same INEC that could not upload results to the IReV portal on election day. The same INEC that told Nigerians the BVAS was foolproof, only for the machines to fail in thousands of polling units. The same INEC that presided over an election where results were manipulated, voters were suppressed and thugs operated with impunity. Now they want to add artificial intelligence to the mix.

INEC is competing with JAMB. JAMB just announced a UTME centre in Ottawa while Nigerian students write exams in darkness. INEC is now announcing AI for result verification while Nigerians still queue for Permanent Voter Cards and results disappear from IReV. Both agencies are chasing optics while Nigerians suffer the consequences of their incompetence. JAMB cannot fix its server on exam day. INEC cannot upload results. But they can open centres in Canada and deploy artificial intelligence.

The 2027 elections are four months away. INEC has acquired 57,000 new BVAS devices and promises simultaneous voting across all polling units. But the commission has not explained how it will address the vote-buying that marred the Osun election. It has not explained how it will stop thuggery. It has not explained how it will ensure that results are uploaded in real time. It has not explained why Nigerians should trust a commission that has failed to deliver on every promise it made in 2023.

The Obidient Movement has rejected the AI plan, warning INEC against deploying technology without first addressing unresolved electoral problems. The movement said the commission should abandon the plan, particularly as INEC has admitted that its AI governance framework is not yet finalised. They are right. You cannot deploy artificial intelligence to verify results when you have not fixed the human intelligence that manages the process. You cannot use AI to detect anomalies when the anomalies are the people running the commission.

INEC says it is deploying AI to strengthen the electoral process. But Nigerians do not need AI to know that the commission is not ready for 2027. They do not need AI to know that the same problems that plagued the 2023 elections will plague the 2027 elections. They do not need AI to know that INEC is more interested in chasing technology than in fixing the fundamentals of free and fair elections.

The commission says it will deploy AI with mandatory human oversight. But who oversees the humans? The same politicians who benefited from the flawed 2023 elections? The same security agencies that looked the other way while thugs snatched ballot boxes? The same INEC officials who presided over the manipulation of results? AI cannot fix what is broken in INEC. Only accountability can. And accountability is the one thing INEC has never delivered.

INEC should stop competing with JAMB. Both of them are failing at their core mandates. JAMB should fix Nigerian exam halls before opening a centre in Ottawa. INEC should fix Nigerian elections before deploying AI. Nigerians are tired of agencies that announce grand plans while the basics remain broken. They want results, not rhetoric. They want free and fair elections, not artificial intelligence. And they want leaders who prioritise the people over the optics.

About The Author

West Africa Weekly

author

See author's posts