77 days to polls:Parties clash over INEC’s preparations

By Henry Umoru, Luminous Jannamike & Omeiza Ajayi

With barely 77 days to the 2027 general elections, concerns over the preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have become disturbing, especially following the discovery of artificial intelligence-generated photographs in the commission’s preliminary voters’ register.

The development has raised fresh questions about the integrity of the electoral database, the effectiveness of INEC’s internal monitoring mechanisms and the commission’s capacity to conduct elections that would command public confidence.

Accordingly, the worries have been compounded by complaints about other irregularities in the preliminary register, including questionable names, addresses, genders and photographs.

Although INEC has acknowledged the problem and promised to clean up the register before the final version is released on December 15, 2026, the development has exposed vulnerabilities in the registration process.

The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode, disclosed that some registration officers allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregular entries into the database.

He, however, assured Nigerians that the commission had identified those responsible and was taking steps to address the situation.

Registered voters

INEC’s preliminary register, uploaded on October 26, 2026, contains over 103.4 million registered voters. Bayode explained that the figure reflected the more than 93 million voters recorded in the 2023 register and additional registrations from the continuous voter registration exercise ahead of the forthcoming elections.

He said INEC was deploying technology to address the identified shortcomings, adding that its Automated Biometric Identification System, ABIS, had detected several questionable photographs before the preliminary register was released.

Against this backdrop, Sunday Vanguard spoke with officials of political parties to ascertain their assessment of INEC’s preparations, the implications of the AI-generated images and what the commission needs to do to guarantee credible elections.

While some parties expressed reservations about the development and called for urgent measures to restore public confidence, others maintained that the discovery should not be exaggerated, insisting that INEC had sufficient time to address the identified problems.

** LP: INEC must go back to drawing board**

For the Labour Party, LP, the discovery of AI-generated photographs in the preliminary voters’ register is a development that requires urgent attention, particularly given the proximity of the elections.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, said the situation had moved beyond speculation following the commission’s admission that irregularities had occurred.

He said: “This is quite concerning. This is no longer a rumour because even INEC Director of ICT came out to admit it.”

Asogwa expressed concern that such a development was occurring under the leadership of the current INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, whom he described as a person with considerable academic and professional credentials.

He said: “This is happening at a time when we have an INEC Chairman who is not just a lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria at that. If you look at his CV, he is also an academic of repute, an individual who was a Deputy Vice Chancellor of a University.”

According to him, the proximity of the elections makes the development particularly disturbing.

“That this is happening with less than 90 days to a crucial election is worrisome,” he added.

On the commission’s preparedness, the LP spokesman said INEC was in the best position to assess and explain its readiness. However, he insisted that the commission had a responsibility to reassure Nigerians and rebuild confidence in the electoral process.

He said: “As to their preparedness, the commission is in the best place to say. But we will suggest that they go back to the drawing board and inspire public confidence in the process.

“Election also has a lot to do with public perception.”

PDP: No cause for alarm

However, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, adopted a different position, expressing confidence in the commission’s activities and urging political parties and other stakeholders not to make the discovery appear bigger than it is.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, acknowledged that complaints had emerged from different quarters over the preliminary voters’ register, particularly allegations involving AI-generated images.

He, however, said INEC’s admission and commitment to correcting the anomalies should be acknowledged.

He said:

“We have received complaints from different quarters, particularly about the preliminary voters’ register, where it was alleged that AI-generated images had been included. It is no longer an allegation because INEC has owned up to it.

“The good thing is that INEC has acknowledged the issue and reassured Nigerians that it is doing everything possible to correct it and prevent a recurrence.”

AI-generated

Mohammed argued that the emergence of AI-generated images in the register was not entirely surprising, considering the growing influence of artificial intelligence in contemporary society.

He, however, maintained that the discovery did not necessarily suggest that the electoral process had been compromised.

“In today’s world, where AI has become the order of the day, it is not surprising that such images may have found their way into the register. However, now that the issue has been discovered, I do not think it has the potential to discredit the credibility of the electoral process.

“Whatever number of AI-generated images of purported eligible voters may have infiltrated the register is unlikely to be significant enough to affect the outcome of the elections.”

The PDP spokesman further noted that the register currently in circulation was preliminary and not the final document to be used for the elections.

According to him, the commission still has the opportunity to identify and eliminate questionable entries before the final register is published.

“The good thing is that this is not the final register, and these issues have been detected very early. We believe INEC will deploy all necessary technologies to clean up the register and prevent it from being infiltrated by questionable and unverifiable entries,” he said.

On the general preparedness of the commission, Mohammed said his party had not identified anything that suggested that the forthcoming elections were under threat.

“For our party, we have not seen anything so far that has the capacity to truncate the 2027 elections. I think INEC’s preparations so far deserve a level of commendation.

“The commission has outlined about 14 or 15 items it intends to achieve, and from the last information I received from the INEC chairman, it has achieved about 10 of them.

“Our party is therefore not worried. We are making our own preparations, and so far, INEC’s activities have not given us any cause for concern.”

Electoral process

He also called on opposition parties and public commentators to be measured in their public statements, warning against utterances that could undermine confidence in the electoral process.

“I will call on opposition parties and public commentators to guard their utterances.

“We need the country. We need a peaceful country. We need to encourage INEC, and I must also commend Nigerians for being very vigilant.

“This shows that the level of civic responsibility among Nigerians has risen. In the past, Nigerians did not really pay much attention to the voters’ register. But now, they are clearly watching, observing every step and scrutinising everything INEC does.”

Mohammed said the growing public scrutiny should encourage the commission to remain committed to transparency.

“Overall, INEC is now aware that Nigerians are very vigilant. The commission, on its part, will not contemplate doing anything that could truncate or compromise the electoral process.

“The PDP is confident in INEC’s activities, and we believe the concerns that have been raised are minor issues. INEC owned up to them, which is commendable.

“If it had denied the issue, that would have given us reason to doubt. But it did not. It acknowledged that it had identified the problem and was cleaning up the register.

“We must all rally support behind INEC, commend the Commission and remain positive about the 2027 elections and transition,” he added.

APM: AI must not undermine credible elections

On its part, the Allied People’s Movement, APM, expressed concerns about the application of artificial intelligence in the electoral process, stressing the need for caution and responsible deployment of the technology.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, said INEC must remain alive to its responsibilities, particularly as the country approaches another crucial electoral exercise.

According to him, the commission must ensure that the introduction of technology does not defeat the fundamental objective of conducting credible elections.

He said: “INEC is expected to be alive to its responsibilities, particularly when it comes to elections at any level.

“On the issue of artificial intelligence, the need for caution and its responsible deployment is obvious. This is necessary to ensure that the objectives of using the technology are not defeated.”

Yusuf insisted that the 2027 elections must be conducted in a manner that leaves no room for questions about their credibility, acceptability and verifiability.

He said:“The 2027 polls must be seen to be acceptable, credible and verifiable in every respect. Anything short of that will raise questions about INEC’s conduct of the elections.

“The deployment of AI should not undermine the genuine objective of ensuring credible polls.”

For the APM, therefore, the controversy surrounding the preliminary register reinforces the need for INEC to exercise greater vigilance in deploying technology and managing the electoral database.

SDP: INEC is compromised

Taking the same position, the Adewole Adebayo-Bugaje Presidential Campaign Council of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, faulted INEC’s preparations in view of prevailing issues.

The council said the current level of preparation was fundamentally compromised, characterised by severe vulnerabilities in technological integrity and institutional transparency, just 77 days before citizens head to the polls.

Speaking to Sunday Vanguard in Abuja, the campaign council’s Chief Media and Communications Adviser, Comrade Mark Adebayo, said while Prof. Joash Amupitan-led INEC continued to offer verbal assurances of its readiness, the SDP’s empirical analysis of the National Voters’ Register, biometric infrastructure deployment and logistical timelines revealed systemic red flags that threatened the credibility of the upcoming elections.

** Vulnerabilities**

Adebayo said: “Our campaign maintains that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) current level of preparation is fundamentally compromised, characterised by severe vulnerabilities in technological integrity and institutional transparency just 80 days before citizens head to the polls. While INEC continues to offer verbal assurances of its readiness, our empirical analysis of the National Voters’ Register, biometric infrastructure deployment, and logistical timelines reveals systemic red flags that threaten the credibility of the upcoming elections.

“We refuse to allow structural defects to be swept under the rug. We seriously suspect that distinct algorithmic anomalies consistent with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) may have been deployed and active on INEC platforms. These are not human voters; they are synthetic identities designed to pad the register.

“Statistical analysis reveals an improbable statistical spike in registered voters aged 18-22 in specific strategic clusters, where the registration curve completely diverges from historical census data and local birth rates.

“INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) was legally mandated to eliminate duplicates and non-human data. The presence of these glaring AI fabrications is empirical proof that either the ABIS software is malfunctioning, or it has been deliberately bypassed.

“Beyond the compromised register, our active tracking of INEC’s field readiness indicates a dangerous lag in critical operational benchmarks.

BVAS auditing

“On the limited mock trials, field reports show unrectified battery degradation and software latency in rural local governments. We explicitly demand electoral integrity.

“We will not sit idly by while the democratic will of the people is subverted by technological malpractice. On behalf of our candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, and millions of hopeful citizens, we demand that INEC immediately execute the following corrective measures:

“Independent Digital Audit: INEC must grant accredited joint-party IT experts and independent international observers direct read-only access to the central backend register to conduct a comprehensive algorithmic sweep for AI-generated faces.

“Transparent BVAS Auditing: A public, televised stress-test of the BVAS machines across all senatorial districts must be conducted within the next 14 days to verify biometric match speeds and battery resilience.

“Purging of the Register: A comprehensive, publicly verifiable list of all deleted, duplicated, or flagged synthetic entries must be published by polling unit, ensuring absolute mathematical reconciliation before final printing.

“Let us be clear, our campaign wants an election, but we insist on a legitimate election. We are not asking for favours; we are demanding compliance with the law and technological accountability. INEC has exactly 80 days to cleanse its systems, secure its portals, and prove to the world that it is an umpire, not an accomplice. The resilience of our democracy depends entirely on their next move.”

Preparations

Also speaking with Sunday Vanguard on the development, the National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party, ADP, Yabagi Yusuf Sani, said that with elections barely 80 days away, INEC must demonstrate its preparedness through verifiable actions, not mere assurances.

The ADP has called for an immediate, transparent and independent investigation into the irregularities, identification of those responsible, appropriate sanctions where wrongdoing is established, and a comprehensive forensic audit of the voters’ register before its final certification.

Sani said: “The position of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) is that the credibility of any election begins long before polling day. It starts with the integrity of the voters’ register, the transparency of electoral preparations, the neutrality of electoral officials and the confidence of Nigerians in the entire electoral process.

“The recent revelations concerning alleged AI-generated photographs and other irregularities in the voters’ register are deeply concerning. The reported acknowledgement by INEC’s Director of ICT that some registration officers introduced AI-generated photographs into the system raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the Commission’s internal controls and safeguards against electoral manipulation.

Investigation

“ADP therefore calls for an immediate, transparent and independent investigation into these irregularities, identification of those responsible, appropriate sanctions where wrongdoing is established, and a comprehensive forensic audit of the voters’ register before its final certification.

“With elections barely 80 days away, INEC must demonstrate its preparedness through verifiable actions rather than mere assurances. Nigerians deserve clear evidence that the voters’ register is credible, electoral technologies are reliable, sensitive materials are secure, and arrangements for voting, collation and transmission of results are sufficiently robust to prevent manipulation.

“We are particularly concerned that technological innovations intended to strengthen electoral credibility could become instruments for undermining public confidence if adequate safeguards, transparency and accountability are lacking.

“INEC must also deepen its engagement with political parties, civil society organisations, security agencies and other stakeholders. The Commission must address outstanding concerns arising from previous elections and demonstrate measurable improvements in its operational readiness.

“For ADP, the fundamental issue is not simply whether INEC can conduct elections on schedule, but whether every eligible Nigerian can exercise the right to vote freely and whether every lawful vote will be accurately counted, transparently collated and faithfully reflected in the declared results.

“Nigeria cannot afford another electoral process overshadowed by avoidable controversies, technological uncertainties and allegations of manipulation.

“Our message to INEC is clear: electoral credibility must be demonstrated, not merely proclaimed.

“The integrity of the 2027 elections is too important to be compromised by administrative lapses, technological vulnerabilities or institutional complacency.”

NDC: Remove names of deceased Nigerians

Reacting to the development, the National Presidential Campaign Council, NPCC, of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, urged INEC to remove the names of deceased Nigerians from the voters’ register.

According to the NDC, reports that deceased Nigerians still appear on the voters’ register raise serious questions about its accuracy and integrity.

A statement by the spokesperson for the NPCC of the NDC, Dr Chiogo Constance Ikokwu, called on the electorate and political parties to take advantage of their rights and file objections with the electoral body so that INEC could effect the removals.

The statement reads:

“Reports that deceased Nigerians, including prominent figures such as Raymond Dokpesi, Ifeanyi Ubah, Muhammadu Buhari and Rotimi Akeredolu, still appear on the voters’ register raise serious questions about its accuracy and integrity.

“These are just a few names. What about the 774 local government areas across Nigeria? How many deceased persons remain on the register? When was it last comprehensively updated? Is this an oversight, institutional failure or something more troubling?

Citizens

“INEC has the legal responsibility to cleanse the register, especially if it has been notified by citizens. The electoral body owes Nigerians answers. We demand a credible, up-to-date and verifiable voters’ register ahead of the 2027 elections.

“We call on Nigerians and political parties to take advantage of their rights and file objections to the electoral body so INEC can effect removals. On its part, INEC needs to look into these complaints, establish a portal to put all names under objection and give persons against whom a complaint has been lodged the opportunity to respond (in the case of the living), as well as publishing the procedure to object to illegal names in the interest of the public. The electoral body is a well-funded organisation paid for by citizens, and therefore must provide value for money.

“Nigerians will accept nothing less than the highest standards of efficiency, professionalism and accountability from INEC. The electoral body must demonstrate that it has the capacity, competence and commitment to deliver an election whose credibility cannot reasonably be called into question. This is not too much to ask; it is the bare minimum expected of an institution entrusted with the people’s democratic mandate.

“Furthermore, in light of the 2023 election credibility challenges, it is time for an independent, unbiased and professional audit of INEC processes and mechanisms. The 2027 election is too critical for unanswered questions about the very foundation of our democracy. No excuses. No complacency. No questionable register. INEC must do its job.”

4,800 claims, 600 objections

Meanwhile, INEC said it had received over 4,800 claims and about 600 objections to the preliminary voters’ register, with a promise that the discrepancies would be corrected before the final register was certified on December 15, 2026.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Friday when the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Pre-Election Fact-Finding Mission paid a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja. The mission is led by Victor Bockarie Foh, a former Vice-President of Sierra Leone.

Amupitan said the claims, received at the registration areas where the register was displayed as of Thursday, were mainly corrections and other minor matters.

On objections, he said the commission had received “about 600 complaints on the register” through electoral officers and Resident Electoral Commissioners from the various wards. He added that “the display of the register online is also confirming some of the complaints we had earlier received.”

According to him, the register now stands at over 103 million registered citizens, adding that it is a huge figure and that the discrepancies noticed would be corrected so that “the register will be properly cleaned up” ahead of the final list.

8,809 Registration Areas

The commission completed three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and recently ended the physical display of the preliminary register at registration areas nationwide. It has also published the register on its online portal, display.inecnigeria.org, for public scrutiny, claims and objections.

He again restated that the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday, January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2027.

He said the commission will deploy personnel and technology across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, covering 774 Local Government Areas, 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) and 176,846 polling units.

Amupitan said the commission had executed nine of the 14 major milestones in its Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.

He said INEC had also moved “away from administrative assumptions” by personally conducting zonal readiness assessment tours. It has covered the South-West in Lagos, the North-West in Kaduna, the South-East in Enugu and the North-East in Gombe, and the team is heading to Port Harcourt for the South-South. The North-Central, the last zone, will be visited next week.

Accreditation

He said the tours had shown that some areas needed higher deployments than planned because of terrain and security challenges.

Amupitan disclosed that the commission was planning a mock accreditation across the country, which he said should hold “sometime in November.” He said it would test accreditation and the transmission of results simultaneously in all the states, to be sure the commission can “cure the problem of glitch that took place in 2023.”

On technology, he said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be deployed for dual biometric accreditation, by fingerprint and face. The commission has also introduced a new electronic verification platform, eEC8A, for results transmitted to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

Electoral integrity

However, beyond the positions of the parties, the controversy has placed renewed attention on the responsibility of INEC to demonstrate that the problems identified in the preliminary register are being addressed.

Observers believe the commission’s December 15 deadline for the release of the final register will, therefore, be an important test of its ability to resolve the concerns raised by stakeholders.

INEC, therefore, faces the task of convincing Nigerians that the preliminary register’s shortcomings will not translate into weaknesses in the final electoral process.

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