The commitment was outlined in the outcome document of the AI and Democracy Forum 2026, held in Abuja from October 14 to 16. The forum brought together electoral officials, technology companies, civil society organisations, journalists and other stakeholders to examine how artificial intelligence could affect Nigeria’s electoral process.

The event was convened by Yiaga Africa, INEC, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and Dataphyte Foundation, alongside national and international partners.

The outcome document records commitments from INEC, Microsoft and the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC), alongside 13 recommendations aimed at strengthening safeguards against AI-generated misinformation and protecting the integrity of the 2027 elections.

Microsoft’s proposed use of INEC’s final candidate list is intended to help its AI systems identify recognised candidates and reduce the risk of generating misleading synthetic images of them. The measure forms part of wider efforts to address deepfakes, impersonation and digitally manipulated content that could confuse voters during the campaign period.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said artificial intelligence should support democratic processes rather than determine electoral outcomes. In his keynote address, he warned that the misuse of technology to influence voters’ perceptions posed a serious challenge to electoral integrity.

The commission also committed to finalising an AI governance framework for elections, adopting a human-oversight principle for critical electoral decisions and strengthening cybersecurity against threats such as denial-of-service and brute-force attacks.

Under the proposed human-oversight principle, key decisions involving voter accreditation, result collation and candidate qualification would not be left entirely to autonomous systems. INEC also proposed establishing an Electoral Information Integrity Coalition involving civil society organisations, media representatives, fact-checkers and telecommunications operators to help identify and respond to AI-generated falsehoods.

The forum’s recommendations extend beyond the electoral commission and technology companies. Political parties were encouraged to adopt an ethical code governing AI use, while media organisations were urged to strengthen their ability to verify digital content. Security agencies and the judiciary were also encouraged to build capacity in cybercrime investigations and digital forensics.

Technology platforms were urged to label AI-generated content where appropriate, restrict harmful synthetic impersonation and improve moderation of content in Nigerian languages. The recommendations also stressed that any AI-assisted election results platform should be accurate, transparent and auditable, while recognising that INEC alone has the legal authority to declare official election results.

Participants also warned that the spread of synthetic media could create a situation in which genuine evidence is wrongly dismissed as fake, making independent verification and clear standards for authenticating digital material increasingly important.

The forum also showcased technology designed to support election observation. Election GPT, developed by Pawavox, was named the Judges’ Choice winner in the Election Observation and Data category of the forum’s innovation sandbox. According to Yiaga Africa, the project received a ₦13 million cash prize and technical support to help develop and scale the tool ahead of the elections.

The platform allows election observers to submit geotagged, timestamped and cryptographically signed audio and video reports, while flagging potentially manipulated material for human review.

The forum’s recommendations come ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, with INEC’s published timetable setting the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027, and the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections for February 6, 2027.

As preparations continue, the commitments highlight the growing need for cooperation between election administrators, technology providers, media organisations and civil society to protect voters from deceptive content while maintaining transparency and public trust in the electoral process.

Reporting by TalkNaija Media