AI-Generated Photos: We Are Already Cleaning Up Our Register – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has commenced the process of cleaning up its preliminary Register of Voters following the identification of records with suspected AI-generated photographs and other irregularities. The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) had flagged 268 records for review.

“What we are currently doing now is looking at all these 268 records that ABIS already flagged as AI-generated or even something of irregularities,” he said. Bayode explained that some people allegedly used their official credentials to create questionable profiles, exploiting a registration option designed for persons with disabilities who do not have complete fingers or have no fingers.

According to him, the option, known as special registration, was used to deceive the system and was among the irregularities detected by ABIS. He said the commission had begun cleaning up the affected records. “Those that we have seen, we are cleaning up,” Bayode said. Bayode Lawrence However, he clarified that not every photograph enhanced with artificial intelligence would be removed, distinguishing between images generated entirely by AI and genuine photographs improved with AI tools on mobile phones.

“Those that we know it is the AI on the phone that helped enhance their pictures, we can’t exclude such people because it was the AI on the phone that does that. Such people will still be on the register but those AI-generated, those photographs, all these will be removed. We are already looking at them,” he said. The controversy followed the publication of INEC’s preliminary Register of Voters online on October 26, after screenshots circulated on social media showing questionable photographs attached to voter records, including entries from parts of Edo State.

The concerns also included allegations of duplicate entries and reports that names of deceased persons appeared on the register. In response, INEC said the online version was the same preliminary register displayed physically at Registration Areas nationwide from October 9 to 15. It explained that the publication did not reflect all the data-cleanup activities already in progress.

The commission also said the register was not yet the final certified version and that the display, claims and objections exercise was designed to allow members of the public to identify inaccuracies and questionable entries before certification. INEC has said it will complete the necessary verification, adjudication and data-cleanup processes before certifying the final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.