AI Photo Scandal: INEC Flags Officials in 10 States Over Fake Voter Images

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has flagged its officials in 10 states for uploading Artificial Intelligence-generated photographs to the national voters’ register.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation themed ‘AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote’.

Haruna said the Commission has removed the AI-generated photographs discovered on the register, describing it as one of the emerging challenges ahead of the 2027 general 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 said.

He said cases involving INEC personnel have been identified and will be sanctioned, noting that while it may be difficult to stop members of the public from manipulating their photographs, the Commission has control over violations by its staff.

“But the ones involving our own staff, where it is our own staff that did so, that one is within our control. We are in the process of addressing it. They have been flagged,” Haruna said.

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

On regulation of AI in the electoral process, Haruna said INEC has developed an AI policy which is yet to be finalised, noting that even advanced democracies are still working on comprehensive policies for the fast-evolving technology.

“As you know very well, it is new territory out there. Even the most advanced countries don’t have what you might call concrete, specific policies about AI because these things are evolving,” he said.

He said the Commission has outlined its approach and will soon conclude work on the policy.

“But we have at least some ideas of what we want to do and how we want to use that. We have that policy. Very soon, we will concretise it, and we will be able to share it with the media,” he said. [Culled from Daily Trust]