2027: Fact-check issues, shun unofficial results, INEC charges journalists

By Myke Uzendu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged journalists and newsroom managers to strengthen fact-checking and digital verification systems to combat artificial intelligence-driven misinformation and deepfakes ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The Commission also warned media organisations against publishing or amplifying unofficial election results, saying premature reporting of privately collated figures could create conflicting narratives and undermine public confidence in results formally declared through the electoral process.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, represented by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Enugu State, Dr Chukwuemeka Chukwu, gave the charge on Thursday at the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) 2026 in Enugu.

Amupitan, in an address titled “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,” said generative artificial intelligence, voice cloning, deepfake videos and automated bot networks had made it increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic election information from manipulated content.

He said malicious actors could now produce convincing videos purporting to show electoral officials announcing false results, clone the voices of INEC officials and circulate fabricated result sheets designed to trigger public outrage before the official collation process was concluded.

“We have moved far beyond simple political bias, hyperbole, or unverified rumours into an era of synthetically manufactured reality,” Amupitan said.

He warned that the greatest danger posed by synthetic disinformation was not merely the spread of individual falsehoods but the erosion of public trust in genuine information.

“When deepfakes render lies believable, real truth is greeted with skepticism. Cynicism replaces civic engagement,” he said.

According to him, misinformation could turn elections from peaceful contests of ideas into environments driven by manipulated emotions, ethnic tensions and outrage.

“For an election management body, administrative success on the ground can be instantly erased on a smartphone screen by a well-timed, algorithmically boosted deepfake,” he added.

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