By John Odhe
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has reassured Nigerians that their votes would be protected during the 2027 general election.
Amupitan gave the reassurance while delivering an opening remarks on Thursday at the 24th edition of the All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) 2026 holding in Enugu State.
He described the theme of the conference “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive”, along with its sub-theme on artificial intelligence and synthetic disinformation as quite apt.
Amupitan, who was represented by chukwuemeka chukwu, the Enugu State INEC Resident Commissioner, posited that without a free, rigorous, and courageous media, citizens would vote in the dark and their votes would not count.
“Conversely, without a credible, transparent, and legally sound electoral process, press freedom becomes an empty exercise in documenting administrative failure.
“The electoral management body and the press are bound in shared constitutional stewardship: we protect the ballot, and you protect the truth surrounding it.
“As Albert Camus aptly put it, “Integrity has no need of rules.” However, in discharging our national duties, our rules and professional standards are our shield. We must remain above suspicion before over 200 million Nigerians and the international community.
“A flawed election process or a corrupted information space is a wound to the nation’s soul. Together, we must ensure that under our watch, that soul remains vibrant and intact.
“The Ballot, the Press, and the Nation
Democracy is fundamentally an act of collective faith, anchored on an unwritten covenant between citizen and state: that the citizen’s voice matters, their choice is sovereign, and the mechanisms translating that choice into governance are untainted, transparent, and fair.
“The ballot is the instrument of that sovereign choice. Yet, a ballot in isolation is silent; it requires an informed electorate to give it intent and an institutional mirror to reflect its outcome truthfully to the world. That mirror is the media.
“Under Section 22 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the press is explicitly charged with holding government accountable to the people.
“In the context of elections, this constitutional obligation elevates the newsroom into the nation’s democratic courtroom where electoral rules are scrutinised, political arguments weighed, administrative performance audited, and election results communicated to a waiting public.
“As Albert Camus aptly put it, “Integrity has no need of rules.” However, in discharging our national duties, our rules and professional standards are our shield. We must remain above suspicion before over 200 million Nigerians and the international community,” he posited.
The chairman also underscored the importance of the welfare of media practitioners in democratic defense, information integrity, and technological resilience.
“We must confront an uncomfortable reality: we cannot demand unyielding ethical fortitude from a journalist whose basic economic survival is constantly threatened.
“A reporter operating under extreme financial insecurity, unpaid salaries, and inadequate welfare cannot serve as an unassailable fortress against political inducement, fake news, and brown-envelope pressures.
“I speak directly to the Managing Directors, Publishers, Chief Executive Officers, and media owners gathered in this hall: media performance depends heavily on staff welfare.
“If we truly view journalists as frontline guardians of democracy, their socio-economic security must be treated as a strategic priority, not an administrative afterthought.
“A poorly compensated journalist is vulnerable; a financially neglected newsroom is fertile ground for compromise, weakening the democratic architecture we seek to protect.
“To protect our democracy, we must protect the economic dignity of the journalist.
“When a reporter is assured of a decent living wage and structured welfare, they gain the independence required to reject financial inducements, interrogate fake narratives, and report election processes with uncompromising objectivity.
“I share this perspective as an administrator who understands that organisational integrity begins with workforce dignity.
“Within INEC, we came to the profound realisation that we could not demand absolute neutrality, zero corruption, and flawless execution from our field officers without first taking decisive care of their institutional welfare.
“As such, the Commission has taken concrete steps to transform the compensation structure of our workforce:
“We established the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS), pulling our staff outside the regular Civil Service structure to reflect the specialised, high-stakes nature of election administration, effective 1st January 2026.
“We are implementing an upgraded salary and welfare package for INEC Staff, Commission Members, and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), currently at an advanced stage.
“The Commission increased Overheads to State Offices by 150 percent effective 1st July 2026, ensuring operational posts at state and local government levels have the financial resources to execute duties without friction or compromise.
“If an election management body can overhaul its financial structures to protect institutional integrity, I urge the leadership of the Nigerian media industry to undertake a similar commitment. Investing in staff welfare is a civic duty essential to keeping Nigerian democracy alive, Amupitan said
The INEC chairman called for media integrity and economic resilience in the face of misuse of artificial intelligence.
“We have moved far beyond simple political bias, hyperbole, or unverified rumours into an era of synthetically manufactured reality.
“Generative artificial intelligence, voice cloning, deepfake video synthesis, and automated bot networks have democratised mass deception. Malicious operatives no longer need a printing press or broadcast license to deceive millions.
“With modest computing power, they can produce a photorealistic video of an electoral official purportedly declaring false results in a dark room, a cloned audio file of an INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner instructing staff to manipulate voting devices on election eve.
“They can produce a synthetically generated letterhead carrying the Chairman’s forged signature, announcing the sudden postponement of voting in select states.
“They can manipulated result sheets engineered to mimic official security features, flooded onto social media minutes after polling closes to create an illusion of fraud before collation even begins.
“The primary danger of synthetic disinformation is not merely that it tricks citizens into believing a specific falsehood, but it causes the systemic destruction of public trust. When everything can be faked, citizens begin to doubt genuine, verified facts provided by constitutional authorities,” he asserted.
He, however, hinted that INEC was prepared to check misuse of AI during the elections.
“Earlier this month, I had the privilege of attending the Global Conference on Responsible AI and Elections in Ottawa, Canada.
“In my address to delegates, I made it clear that for a nation of Nigeria’s demographic and operational scale—managing over 93 million registered voters, 176,847 polling units, and deploying more than 185,000 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices—AI adoption cannot be treated as a mere IT project.
“It must be executed as a comprehensive, structural institutional reform. To turn technology into an instrument of electoral integrity, INEC has taken proactive, concrete measures:
“Deploying AI for Result Integrity: We have commenced deploying intelligent AI tools directly within our Results Management process. This technology automatically scans and detects discrepancies or administrative errors in result records before final validation.
“Technology must complement, rather than replace, constitutional institutions. As I declared in Ottawa, “AI must strengthen electoral integrity, improve public service, and always remain under human control.” Every automated result check remains strictly subject to human auditing and legal verification.
“The Commission established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within our ICT Department. We crafted a comprehensive AI Roadmap and Governance Framework built upon five core pillars, which are Human Oversight, Transparency and Accountability, Data Protection, Cybersecurity, and Public Trust.
“These technological advancements do not exist in a legal vacuum.
“They are firmly backed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act 2026, the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, and the Cybercrimes Act 2024, ensuring complete legal verifiability for electronic result transmission, biometric accreditation, and digital record processing,” he explained.
He added that the commission was also working with global partners to build a reliable technological defence, saying, “through these global partnerships and internal reforms, INEC is building a strong technological defense to safeguard the transparency and credibility of the ballot box.”
Amupitan sued for cooperation of the media, particularly the editors, for the dissemination of authentic information before, during and after the polls to ensure credible results.
“However, INEC cannot secure the information space alone. We control the electoral infrastructure, but you control the distribution channels of public information.
“As Editors, you are primary gatekeepers of public discourse. The desk of an Editor is the final barrier between a verified fact and a nation-altering falsehood.
“In an era dominated by social media algorithms that reward outrage, speed, and virality over accuracy, the traditional newsroom must reassert its role as the supreme sanctuary of truth.
“The pressure on modern newsrooms to be first is immense. But in national elections, it is vastly more important to be right than to be first.
“Rushing to publish unverified, sensational claims—whether a fake result sheet on social media, a doctored video, or an unconfirmed statement—grants institutional legitimacy to deliberate deception, causing damage to public peace that is almost impossible to reverse.
“I appeal to the Nigerian Guild of Editors to view media gatekeeping as a critical component of national security and democratic defense. To effectively combat AI-driven disinformation before, during, and after elections, we must build a collaborative firewall.
“As media organisations, let us institutionalise fact-checking desks and integrate digital verification tools, deepfake detection software, and forensic image analysis into daily breaking news workflows.
“Let’s resist premature result declarations. Under the Electoral Act, statutory authority to declare election results rests exclusively with INEC. Amplifying unverified, privately collated figures published by political actors on social media creates conflicting public narratives that undermine official outcomes.
“We should use our platforms to educate citizens on spotting synthetic content, fake letterheads, and algorithmically generated rage-bait.
“Distinguished Editors, media proprietors, ladies and gentlemen, as John F. Kennedy wisely observed, “Democracy is never a final achievement. It is a call to an untiring effort.”
“The ballot and the press are bound by history, law, and purpose. We are twin guardians of the same national dream: a sovereign, peaceful, and prosperous Nigeria governed by the uncoerced will of its people.
“The Commission is doing its part. We ask the media leadership gathered here to do its part. Fortify your newsrooms against AI-driven disinformation, prioritise verification over speed, and stand as an unyielding fortress of truth.
“As we set out on the road to 2027, I am reminded of the words of Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Conducting a seamless, transparent election across 176,000 polling units in a nation as vast and vibrant as Nigeria is a Herculean task, but it is a task we are uniquely prepared for,” he concluded.
