AI must strengthen, not replace, INEC — Amupitan

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INEC Chairman, Amupitan

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ABUJA: The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, has said the successful deployment of Artificial Intelligence, AI, in electoral administration will depend more on strong institutions, governance structures and safeguards than on the sophistication of the technology.

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Amupitan stated this on Thursday, September 10, 2026, in Ottawa, Canada, while addressing the Global Conference on Responsible AI and Elections, where he presented Nigeria’s experience and lessons in institutionalising responsible AI for electoral administration.

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He was accompanied by the Director of Information and Communication Technology, ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode.

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The INEC chairman said the growing influence of algorithms and data architectures on democratic processes had made responsible technological innovation an important consideration for election management bodies.

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He said Nigeria had progressively deployed technology to strengthen the credibility and efficiency of its electoral processes, citing the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS; INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV; and Automated Biometrics Identification System, ABIS, as innovations adopted to reduce human error and manual interference.

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According to him, the scale of Nigeria’s electoral operations makes technology essential to modern election administration, noting that the country has more than 93 million registered voters, approximately 180,000 polling units and about 185,000 BVAS devices, with elections conducted simultaneously across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

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He, however, cautioned that AI adoption should not be driven by technology for its own sake, but by demonstrable improvements in electoral administration, public service and public confidence.

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“AI must strengthen electoral integrity, improve public service, and always remain under human control,” Amupitan said.

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He also outlined the legal framework underpinning the deployment of technology in Nigeria’s electoral process, citing the Constitution, Electoral Act 2026, INEC Regulations, Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and Cybercrimes Act 2024.

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He particularly highlighted provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to the voters’ register, electronic voting devices, biometric accreditation, electronic transmission of results and the use of accreditation and transmitted results in the collation and declaration of election results.

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The INEC chairman disclosed that the Commission had commenced institutional preparations for the responsible adoption of AI, rather than treating it solely as an ICT project.

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He said the Commission had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department, developed an AI Roadmap for phased adoption and an AI Governance Framework currently undergoing internal approval.

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He added that INEC had commenced AI literacy and technical capacity building among staff, while adopting a multidisciplinary approach involving ICT, Operations, Legal, Voter Education, Risk Management and other departments.

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“Responsible AI begins with institutional readiness — not technology,” he said.

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Amupitan identified five principles guiding INEC’s AI initiatives as human oversight; transparency and accountability; data protection and privacy; cybersecurity and risk management; and operational value and public trust.

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He stressed that AI would serve as an aid to election officials and would not replace human responsibility for electoral decision-making.

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Giving an insight into one of the Commission’s AI initiatives, Amupitan disclosed that INEC had introduced an intelligent Results Management process designed to assist in identifying discrepancies in election result records.

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