INEC says AI deepfakes may threaten 2027’s credibility, raising fears that robots could soon outperform politicians in the ancient democratic art of confidently lying to Nigerians.
INEC has looked at Nigeria’s 2027 election and apparently realised that we have entered a new level of wahala: artificial intelligence can now manufacture political lies faster than humans can forward them.
The electoral commission has warned that AI-generated disinformation could seriously damage the credibility of the 2027 elections, with manipulated videos, voices, images and targeted political messages becoming cheaper and increasingly difficult to detect. INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan says the commission is already considering measures including a technology audit, a mock election and a rapid-response system for false information.
And honestly, Nigeria is probably the perfect laboratory for this experiment.
Because imagine waking up one morning and seeing a video of a presidential candidate saying something completely outrageous. The video is convincing. The voice is perfect. The lips are moving correctly. Your uncle has already posted it on WhatsApp with, “This man has finally exposed himself.”
By the time INEC comes out to say, “This video is AI-generated,” your aunty has already sent it to three church groups and your secondary school WhatsApp group has spent two hours fighting over it.
The scary part is that we already have a serious fake-news culture without AI. During previous elections, Nigerians have shared fake result sheets, fabricated statements and manipulated political content at the speed of someone announcing free fuel.
Now imagine adding AI to the mix.
Someone can potentially create a convincing video of a candidate insulting a particular tribe. Another person can generate an audio recording that sounds like a politician admitting to rigging. Somebody else can produce a fake INEC announcement telling voters that their polling unit has changed.
And because Nigerians love the phrase “I don’t know if it’s true o, but…”, the content will already have travelled across the country before anybody checks.
INEC says elections are no longer fought only at polling units but also in the information space.
Which means by 2027, voters may need two things before believing anything online: their PVC and common sense.
And unfortunately, INEC can distribute PVCs.
Common sense? That one is between Nigerians and God.
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