· Admits registration officers launched AI-generated photos, irregularities
· Amupitan: Commission has no most popular candidate, occasion for 2027 elections
· Atiku, ADC Demand Independent Forensic Audit, Allege Sabotage
Chuks Okocha, Adedayo Akinwale and Erizia Rubyjeana in Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday disclosed that it had acquired greater than 4,800 claims and about 600 objections to the Preliminary Register of Voters, because it assured Nigerians that the cleansing of the register could be accomplished earlier than December 15, 2026.
The growth comes amid issues over the invention of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated pictures and different irregularities within the preliminary register, with the Commission admitting that some registration officers have been accountable for introducing suspicious entries into the database.
However, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have demanded a full rationalization of how the pictures entered the register, the identification of officers accountable and an impartial forensic audit of the database.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed the variety of claims and objections whereas receiving the ECOWAS Pre-Election Fact-Finding Mission on the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Amupitan, in an announcement issued yesterday by INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs. Victoria Eta-Messi, mentioned the Commission was working to be certain that all claims and objections have been addressed earlier than the Final Register of Voters was licensed on December 15, 2026.
He mentioned: “The objections have been acquired from the assorted wards by way of electoral officers and Resident Electoral Commissioners.
“The display of the register online is also confirming some of the complaints we had earlier received.”
He mentioned the Commission has no most popular candidate or political occasion within the 2027 elections.
“Our sole allegiance is to the rule of law, the sovereign will of the Nigerian electorate, and the democratic progress of our nation,” he added.
The Chairman defined that given the scale of the register, which now stands at over 103 million registered residents, any discrepancies seen through the show could be corrected forward of the ultimate launch.
He additionally introduced that the Commission deliberate a nationwide mock accreditation train in November to take a look at accreditation and end result transmission concurrently in all states.
Amupitan mentioned INEC had launched a safeguard whereby outcomes could be authenticated on the polling unit earlier than they have been transmitted to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
He defined that when he assumed workplace, the query was whether or not to introduce a distinct expertise, however that was not an possibility given the timeline, so the Commission targeted on bettering the prevailing system.
On its preparedness for the 2027 normal election, he mentioned the Commission had visited the South-west in Lagos, the North-west in Kaduna, the South-east in Enugu and, earlier within the week, the North-east in Gombe, with the North-central zone scheduled for a go to the next week.
He emphasised that the excursions had already led to changes, notably in areas requiring larger deployments due to terrain and safety challenges.
The chairman additionally mentioned the Commission was perfecting plans for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) “to ensure inclusivity, that no one is completely excluded.”
Earlier, the chief of the ECOWAS mission and former Vice-President of Sierra Leone, Victor Bockarie Foh, mentioned the mission was deployed on the energy of the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, Article 53C of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework, and “the authority of heads of state decision to send pre-election fact-finding missions to member states holding elections.”
Meanwhile, INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Dr. Lawrence Bayode, mentioned the Commission would full the cleansing of the preliminary register earlier than December 15, 2026, following the invention of AI-generated pictures and different irregularities through the public show.
Bayode gave the peace of mind throughout an interview on ARISE NEWS, saying the ultimate register would tackle the anomalies recognized by INEC and members of the general public.
Speaking on the irregularities, he mentioned the Commission was reviewing the entries and was assured that the ultimate register would mirror the required corrections.
“So, we are working on that, we are cleaning up the register and we believe that the register that will be released on the 15th of December will have taken care of all this AI-generated or other irregularity pictures that we have also seen on the register,” he mentioned.
He defined that though the Commission had deployed AI-powered chatbots for public enquiries and logistics help, it had not used the expertise for voter registration.
“Like in logistics, we are deploying chatbots where people can ask questions and the AI will respond to them, deploy it in logistics to ease our logistics movement when it comes to moving materials from one location to the other,” he mentioned.
Bayode attributed the irregularities to the actions of some registration officers who had entry to the voter registration system.
“And this thing got into the register by the registration officers, because they have access to register people,” he mentioned.
He added that the Commission’s findings confirmed that the issue was not restricted to areas whose suspicious entries had attracted consideration on social media, however concerned some registration officers throughout the nation.
“What we have found out is that some of these registration officers, not only the place that we are seeing even on social media, some of them, not all of them now, some of them across the states nationwide, they have done different things to bring these irregularities onto the register,” he mentioned.
The ICT director mentioned INEC had recognized how among the irregularities have been launched into the system, though he couldn’t clarify the motive of the officers concerned.
“When the ABs was run on the system, we saw these people, we know what they did, we know how they did it, but honestly, I don’t know why,” he added.
Bayode maintained that INEC had not deployed AI for voter registration, regardless of the looks of AI-generated pictures on the preliminary register. He additionally assured Nigerians that the Commission had eliminated the irregularities recognized by its officers and members of the general public.
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“I can assure you that all these irregularities that we have seen and that the Nigerians have seen, we have removed them from the register,” he mentioned.
The preliminary register was displayed at registration areas between October 9 and 15 for public scrutiny. The train attracted issues over suspicious pictures and different errors within the database.
Bayode mentioned the preliminary register had recorded a rise of greater than 9 million voters over the 93 million registered voters used for the 2023 normal election.
Atiku Demands Disclosure, Independent Audit
Reacting to the event, Atiku known as on INEC to clarify how AI-generated pictures and different questionable entries discovered their means into the register, determine those that submitted them and disclose the verification procedures they underwent.
In an announcement issued by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the previous vice-president mentioned the Commission’s description of the register as preliminary didn’t adequately tackle the circumstances that allowed the suspicious data into its database.
“With more than 103 million registered voters, Nigerians deserve precise answers: how many records are affected, what percentage of the register do they represent, and where are they concentrated?” he requested.
Atiku mentioned public scrutiny of the preliminary register was vital however couldn’t exchange efficient verification by the electoral fee.
“But describing the register as ‘preliminary’ does not answer how those records entered the system in the first place. Public scrutiny is a safeguard; it cannot substitute for effective verification by the electoral umpire,” he mentioned.
He warned that the invention of suspicious pictures might increase questions on different doable anomalies, together with duplicate identities, underage registrations and fictitious entries.
According to him, the Commission should exhibit that the vulnerabilities in its database had been addressed earlier than the 2027 elections.
Atiku subsequently urged INEC to publish the quantity and geographical distribution of flagged data, clarify how they entered the register, protect the audit path and permit an impartial forensic audit involving political events and credible civil society organisations.
He additionally known as for the publication of the audit findings and corrective measures, whereas guaranteeing that voters’ private data remained protected.
The ADC presidential candidate insisted that any official discovered to have intentionally compromised the register ought to face sanctions, whereas eligible voters have to be protected towards wrongful deletion through the cleanup.
In a separate assertion issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku described the invention of AI-generated photos as a critical problem to INEC’s credibility.
He faulted the Commission for acknowledging that some registration officers had launched irregularities into the register with out disclosing their identities or explaining the steps taken to maintain them accountable.
“If INEC knows how the register was compromised, it must disclose the evidence, identify every officer involved and explain why they have not been suspended and prosecuted,” he famous.
Atiku additionally demanded an impartial forensic audit, notably in view of the allegation that greater than 20 million AI-generated photos may be concerned.
He known as for the preservation of voter data, picture information, entry logs and audit trails to allow impartial consultants, political events, civil society teams and credible worldwide observers to look at the proof.
The former vice-president additional accused INEC of failing to tackle opposition events’ calls for for disclosure of corporations contracted to produce delicate election supplies.
ADC Alleges Sabotage, Cites Electoral Act
Also expressing concern, the ADC accused INEC of intentionally undermining its credibility forward of the 2027 normal elections, arguing that the invention of AI-generated pictures and fictitious entries had uncovered critical weaknesses within the Commission’s processes.
In an announcement, the occasion’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, questioned why no arrests had been made regardless of INEC’s admission that some registration officers have been accountable for introducing irregularities into the register.
“If INEC knows that its own officials compromised the voters’ register with AI-generated photographs, why has nobody been arrested? Why have these individuals not been handed over for prosecution? What exactly is INEC waiting for?” the occasion requested.
The ADC additionally accused the Commission of failing to publish the preliminary voters’ register on-line inside the timeframe stipulated by Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, which requires the register to be made obtainable for public scrutiny not later than 90 days earlier than the overall elections.
The occasion drew consideration to Section 19(5), which it mentioned makes failure by an INEC official to adjust to the publication requirement a prison offence punishable by a effective, imprisonment or each.
It questioned whether or not the Commission’s repeated difficulties in getting ready the register mirrored incompetence or a deliberate try to undermine the electoral course of.
“We are beginning to wonder whether INEC is intentionally trying to make itself incompetent. Because how else do you explain an electoral umpire that had at least three years to prepare for elections, but is suddenly unable or unwilling to produce a credible voters’ register in accordance with the strict requirements of the law?” the occasion mentioned.
The ADC warned that the Commission’s dealing with of the register had raised issues about its willingness to adjust to different necessary provisions of the Electoral Act on election day.
It cited using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and serialised poll papers as examples of safeguards that have to be revered to guarantee credible elections.
The occasion demanded an impartial forensic audit of the register, the identification and investigation of officers implicated within the irregularities, and a public rationalization of the Commission’s alleged failure to adjust to the statutory publication requirement.
It insisted that compliance with the Electoral Act was not non-obligatory and urged INEC to exhibit, by way of verifiable actions, that it was ready to conduct free, honest and credible elections in 2027.
