INEC Links AI Photos in Voter Register to Officers' Misconduct

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified some of its registration officers as responsible for the inclusion of suspected artificial intelligence (AI)-generated photographs and other discrepancies in the preliminary voter register. INEC's Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, revealed this during an interview on Arise Television.

The commission faced criticism after screenshots surfaced showing AI-generated images, duplicate entries, and names of deceased individuals in the register, with some issues traced back to a polling unit in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State. Bayode explained that registration officers had individual login credentials to access the system, which some exploited to introduce questionable entries.

Although the commission has begun cleaning up the voter register, the motives behind these actions remain unclear. Bayode noted that the pressure to complete the registration within the statutory 90-day period contributed to these irregularities, describing the actions of the responsible officers as poor registration practice.