Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has taken a significant step towards modernizing Nigeria’s electoral process by creating an Artificial Intelligence Division under its ICT Department. This move aims to harness the benefits of AI in data-driven decision-making, risk detection, and voter services automation.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee on Thursday 22nd May 2025.
The statementreads: “Recently, the Commission attended several conferences with colleagues around the continent on the impact of AI on elections. These interactions were not only motivated by the concern over the use of AI to spread fake news or manipulate content online but also to utilise its benefits for data-driven decision-making, risk detection and mitigation, deepening voter services automation and geo-spatial intelligence in support of logistic optimisation for better material distribution and polling unit allocation.”
Key Objectives of the AI Division:
Enhance Decision-Making: Utilize data-driven insights to improve electoral operations and risk management.
Strengthen Electoral Credibility: Implement predictive analytics, automation, and intelligent safeguards to ensure credible elections.
Improve Voter Engagement: Leverage AI to deepen voter services automation and geo-spatial intelligence for better material distribution and polling unit allocation.
Mitigate Negative Impacts: Address concerns over AI-powered fake news and content manipulation online.
The creation of the AI Division puts INEC at the forefront of institutionalizing AI capabilities within its ICT infrastructure. This development is part of INEC’s ongoing reform efforts to enhance the electoral process through administrative actions.
END
