2027: INEC sets safeguards against foreign information manipulation, deepfakes

…Accuses parties, supporters of deploying fake news against rivals …Fears fake postponement announcement on eve of polls By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has outlined a set of safeguards against Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference FIMI and AI-generated deepfakes ahead of the 2027 general elections.

This was as it accused political parties and their supporters of using false information against their opponents. The commission also expressed fears about the possibility of using deepfake audio or video on the eve of the general elections ro announce a postponement. It said such tools could be timed to exploit such moments, “when media verification channels are constrained and candidate response windows are narrow.” INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan SAN, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the National Summit on Electoral Information Integrity, themed “Beyond the Ballot: AI, FIMI, and the Integrity of Nigeria’s 2027 Elections.” Amupitan said the Commission had been counting down to 16th January 2027, when the first ballots will be cast in the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

He said the summit, supported under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) III framework, was a “critical defense council for the integrity of our democratic process.” On the conduct of the campaigns, he said: “With the opening of Campaigns in August 2026 for the 2027 elections, political parties and their supporters have engaged social media to promote their candidates and denigrate their opponents through false information.” The INEC chairman said public awareness alone was no longer an adequate defence against synthetic content and digital manipulation.

“Informing citizens that deepfakes exist or urging caution when consuming online news is useful, but it is insufficient against well-coordinated, highly funded, and hyper-targeted information operations designed to erode public trust in election administration,” he said. He said elections could now be undermined long before the first ballot was cast.

“The threat is no longer limited to physical interference (such as violent ballot snatching) at the polling unit, it takes shape within digital networks through synthetic media, automated misinformation/disinformation, deepfake fabrications, digital micro-targeting, and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference FIMI,” he said. Amupitan listed INEC’s readiness priorities as voter education, technological safeguards and real-time response.

He said voter education would move “beyond ‘how to vote’ to ‘how to verify'”, so that citizens could tell official INEC communications from AI-generated deepfakes and know which platforms and applications to use to check them. According to him, the Commission was strengthening its digital infrastructure against FIMI, which he said required investment in infrastructure and the support of its vendors.

He added that INEC was building internal mechanisms to debunk viral misinformation within minutes of its emergence. The chairman said INEC was also partnering with global social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and X, formerly Twitter. “We already have an MOU with TikTok,” he said.

Amupitan warned that the campaign and eve-of-election windows were especially vulnerable. Section 98(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026 provides that campaigns shall end 24 hours before polling day, which means they will close on 14th January 2027 for the Presidential and National Assembly polls and on 4th February 2027 for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

He said deepfake audio or video could be timed to exploit such moments, “when media verification channels are constrained and candidate response windows are narrow.” He cited the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election, when an AI-generated audio recording purporting to capture a party leader discussing vote buying went viral two days before polling, during a blackout period.

Fact-checkers, election authorities and media houses could not respond in time, he said. “This case proves that public awareness alone cannot counter well-funded, hyper-targeted digital manipulation,” he said. He said institutions often made the mistake of relying on reactive debunking. “When a manipulated video achieves viral saturation within thirty minutes of release, a formal text rebuttal issued three hours later struggles to undo the cognitive damage,” he said.

Amupitan also warned of the “Liar’s Dividend”, in which the mere existence of AI makes voters doubt what is true. He said INEC could not police the truth alone and called for “a United Front for Information Integrity”. He said platform operators must provide fast-track escalation pathways to review and tag or remove demonstrably altered content, while telecommunications providers and media organisations must keep clear channels open for