The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, has warned that Artificial Intelligence (AI) must support electoral institutions and not replace human responsibility in election management….
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, has warned that Artificial Intelligence (AI) must support electoral institutions and not replace human responsibility in election management.
Amupitan gave the warning on Thursday in Ottawa, Canada, while addressing the Global Conference on Responsible AI and Elections.
He said the success of AI in electoral administration would depend less on technological sophistication than on the strength of institutions, governance structures and safeguards regulating its deployment.
“AI must strengthen electoral integrity, improve public service, and always remain under human control.”
The INEC chairman said the increasing influence of algorithms and data systems on democratic processes had made responsible technological innovation critical to modern election management.
He cited Nigeria’s deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and Automated Biometrics Identification System (ABIS) as examples of technology being used to reduce human error and manual interference in elections.
According to him, the scale of Nigeria’s electoral operations makes technology indispensable, with more than 93 million registered voters, about 180,000 polling units and approximately 185,000 BVAS devices across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Amupitan, however, cautioned that AI adoption should not be driven by technology for its own sake, but by its ability to improve electoral administration, public service and public confidence.
He outlined the legal framework governing technology in Nigeria’s electoral process, including the Constitution, Electoral Act 2026, INEC regulations, Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and Cybercrimes Act 2024.
He said the Electoral Act 2026 provides for technology-driven processes involving the voters’ register, electronic voting devices, biometric accreditation, electronic transmission of results and the use of accreditation and transmitted results in the collation and declaration of election results.
The INEC chairman disclosed that the Commission had begun preparing institutionally for responsible AI adoption, rather than treating it as merely an ICT project.
He said INEC had established a dedicated AI Division within its ICT Department, developed an AI Roadmap for phased adoption and prepared an AI Governance Framework that is currently undergoing internal approval.
The Commission has also begun AI literacy and technical capacity-building for staff, while adopting a multidisciplinary approach involving its ICT, Operations, Legal, Voter Education and Risk Management departments.
“Responsible AI begins with institutional readiness — not technology,” Amupitan said.
He identified five principles guiding INEC’s AI initiatives: human oversight; transparency and accountability; data protection and privacy; cybersecurity and risk management; and operational value and public trust.
Amupitan stressed that AI would assist election officials but would not replace human responsibility for electoral decision-making.
He also disclosed that INEC had introduced an intelligent Results Management process designed to help identify discrepancies in election result records.
The initiative, he said, formed part of the Commission’s broader efforts to deploy AI to improve the efficiency and reliability of electoral administration while ensuring that critical decisions remain under human oversight.
