INEC Blames Registration Officers for AI-Generated Photos in Voters’ Register

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has blamed some of its registration officers for introducing suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs and other questionable records into the preliminary Register of Voters ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.

The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, disclosed this on Friday, October 30, during an interview on Arise Television, explaining that some officers allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voter registration database.

Bayode said the commission uncovered the questionable entries through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which was used to examine the registration records and identify suspicious information.

According to him, some registration officers across different states had used their access to the system to introduce records that did not meet the commission’s requirements.

“We have registration officers on the field. And these registration officers, they have login details to log into the system,” he said.

“So what we have found is that some of these registration officers, not all of them now, some of them across the states nationwide, they’ve done different things to bring these irregularities onto the register.”

The ICT director, however, clarified that not all the questionable photographs were generated using artificial intelligence. He said some resulted from poor registration practices that allowed unacceptable images and other records into the database.

“Some of these pictures are AI-generated. Some of them not AI-generated, but very bad registration,” Bayode explained.

He added that the commission had identified the affected records and established how some of the irregularities entered the system, although it had yet to determine why the officers involved carried out the actions.

“When the ABIS 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 said.

The disclosure follows public concerns over suspicious photographs and other anomalies discovered after INEC uploaded its preliminary voters’ register to its website on October 26.

Screenshots circulated on social media showed entries containing photographs suspected to have been generated using AI, including records linked to parts of Edo State. Other complaints raised questions about duplicate entries, names of deceased persons and registered voters who said they could not find their details.

INEC had earlier said the online version was the same preliminary register displayed physically at Registration Areas across the country between October 9 and 15 as part of its Display, Claims and Objections exercise.

In a statement issued on October 27, the commission said questionable records had been identified and flagged during the physical display, adding that it had commenced a review and corrective process.

It also stressed that the published register was not the final certified version and that the online publication did not reflect all the data-cleaning activities already underway.

The commission is expected to complete its verification, adjudication and data-cleanup processes before certifying the final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.

The latest disclosure has raised further questions about internal controls within the electoral body, particularly how officers with authorised access were able to introduce questionable information into a database used to determine voter eligibility.

However, INEC has not disclosed the number of affected records, the states where the officers were identified, whether any of them have been sanctioned or what disciplinary measures may follow.

The integrity of the voters’ register is a major issue ahead of the 2027 elections, as the document forms the basis for determining who is eligible to participate in the polls. The commission’s ability to identify and correct the irregularities before final certification will therefore be closely watched by political parties, civil society groups and voters.