The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of allegedly planning to manipulate the 2027 general elections in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) through the proposed deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The party made the allegation in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, Esq., titled “INEC’s Plan to Rig the 2027 General Elections With AI.”
The NDC questioned the commission’s decision to introduce AI into its electoral processes ahead of the 2027 elections, expressing concern that the technology could be used to manipulate election outcomes.
“INEC is plotting to rig the 2027 general elections in favour of the ruinous APC by deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI). Suddenly, AI has become an attractive tool for the election management body,” the party stated.
The party also questioned the rationale behind the proposed deployment of AI, arguing that Nigeria continued to face serious security challenges that had yet to be adequately addressed.
“For a nation that has not been able to use AI to solve its intractable security challenges, is it the problem of electing public officers that it can now resolve with AI?” the NDC asked.
It further faulted INEC for allegedly failing to test the technology during off-cycle elections before considering its deployment for the 2027 general elections.
“Not even a test run of the efficiency, or otherwise, of AI tools in off-cycle elections? Why did INEC not test-run AI in the Osun polls?” the party queried.
The NDC also expressed concern over the timing of the proposed deployment, questioning why the commission was considering the technology so close to the general elections.
“Why the hurry to use AI in the forthcoming general elections, just less than 100 days away? Something is amiss,” the statement added.
The party called on Nigerians and the international community to intervene, describing the alleged plan as a threat to the credibility of the electoral process.
“All men and women of good conscience and the international community must rise to checkmate this diabolical plot by INEC,” the statement said.
The controversy follows INEC’s announcement of plans to deploy AI technology to verify election results and detect cyberattacks ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, reportedly disclosed the plans at a press conference on October 6, 2026, while outlining the commission’s preparations for the polls.
According to the report, Amupitan said the commission had established a dedicated AI division within its Information and Communications Technology department to strengthen the integrity and security of the electoral process.
He also disclosed that automated AI auditing tools had been integrated into the commission’s result verification process under a five-pillar AI governance framework, with mandatory human oversight.
“Artificial intelligence governance. The commission has established a dedicated artificial intelligence division within the ICT departments,” Amupitan reportedly said.
“Automated AI auditing tools have been integrated into our result verification process under a five-pillar AI governance framework operating under mandatory human oversight,” he added.
The INEC chairman further stated that the commission was finalising an AI governance framework policy.
He explained that the electoral body was working with international technology companies and other partners to introduce AI-powered anomaly detection tools to monitor database traffic and protect its systems against cyber intrusions and unauthorised alterations.
The proposed deployment has raised questions among Nigerians about the technology’s specific functions, its security and its potential impact on existing electoral procedures, including voter accreditation and result collation.
Some concerns have centred on whether AI would address longstanding challenges associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), electronic transmission of results and manual collation in areas with poor network connectivity.
An X user, @EyedBluntTruth, questioned the precise role of AI in the electoral process, asking: “AI for what exactly? We listen to these things and just move on. Can he tell us what and in which aspect will this be used?”
Another user, @Samaila222222, welcomed the proposed deployment but expressed concern about the security of the technology.
“This is a very good idea, but how can you assure us with the security for the system? We need to know,” the user wrote.
Similarly, @BoluAyos argued that the key issues were the control, transparency and independent auditing of the technology.
“I wouldn’t judge the system by AI being used. I’d judge it by who controls the AI, what data it sees, what happens when it flags an anomaly, and whether independent observers can audit the process,” the user stated.
Another user, @blackbinbaz, cautioned against relying exclusively on AI, stressing that its reliability depended on the quality of the data supplied to it.
“AI is only as reliable as the data fed into it,” the user wrote.
INEC has maintained, according to the report, that its proposed AI tools would operate under mandatory human oversight. However, the NDC has questioned the timing of the planned deployment and called for the technology to be tested before the 2027 general elections.
The NDC’s allegation that INEC intends to rig the elections in favour of the APC was not substantiated in the statement. The commission’s stated objectives for deploying AI, as reported, centre on result verification, anomaly detection and cybersecurity.
The controversy has therefore highlighted the need for greater transparency regarding the proposed technology, including its scope, safeguards and the mechanisms through which its operations could be independently scrutinised.
