Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said electoral management bodies can no longer avoid Artificial Intelligence (AI) and must instead establish robust security safeguards to ensure its responsible use and protect public trust in electoral processes.
Prof. Amupitan stated this on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at the INEC Headquarters in Abuja while receiving a delegation of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC), led by Mr. Serigne Ka, Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division and Permanent Secretary of ECONEC.
The visit followed a two-day validation meeting in Abuja on ECONEC’s guidelines for the use of AI in electoral processes. The guidelines were developed by a working group established after the ECONEC Symposium held in Dakar, Senegal, in November 2025, which focused on AI and election integrity.
Welcoming the delegation, the INEC Chairman said the Commission considered the visit important enough to interrupt its regular engagements to receive the regional partners.
“I was telling them at the Commission meeting this afternoon that we have to stop our meetings and come and receive you,” he said, adding that the Commission needed “a close interaction with our colleagues.”
Prof. Amupitan described ECONEC as an important regional platform for cooperation, peer learning and the strengthening of democratic institutions across West Africa. He said the visit provided another opportunity to deepen relationships among electoral management bodies and exchange practical knowledge and experiences.
Commenting on the guidelines, Prof. Amupitan acknowledged that concerns remained about the potential dangers associated with AI.
“A lot of people are very sceptical about the use of AI because of the dangers inherent in it,” he said.
He argued, however, that such concerns did not eliminate the need to address the technology’s growing influence on electoral processes.
“Even if you don’t want to use it, every system you have, even your phone, already has AI in it,” he said.
According to the INEC Chairman, adopting AI must go hand in hand with developing the cybersecurity capabilities needed to protect institutions and citizens against misuse.
“When we say we want to use AI, it means that you want to have features or cyber skills that will prevent your own phone system from being used against you,” he said.
He stressed that young people should be a particular focus of efforts to strengthen digital security.
“You need to ensure that you get security, especially with our youth,” he added.
Prof. Amupitan identified voter registration as one of the areas where AI could provide practical benefits to electoral management bodies.
“You need to use AI most of the time in voter registration,” he said.
He also highlighted its potential to improve public engagement by enabling electoral commissions to respond promptly to citizens’ enquiries and provide accessible information.
“We also need to have people there to be able to give responses. People like to ask questions,” he said.
“Through AI, you are able to provide information. Frequently asked questions. Information is pulled out,” he added.
The INEC Chairman described the provision of timely and accessible information as essential to building public trust, which he said was “very, very important” to the credibility of electoral processes.
On areas of collaboration with ECONEC, Prof. Amupitan called for greater exchange of expertise among electoral commissions in the sub-region, particularly in electronic transmission of results and records management.
He also identified peer learning, logistics, risk assessment, personnel training and election planning as priority areas for cooperation among member commissions.
The INEC Chairman further advocated preventive regulations for political parties “to enhance compliance and reduce disputes.”
He called for stronger regional cooperation, with particular attention to responsible media engagement and electoral security.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Serigne Ka, said the mission to Nigeria followed the ECONEC Symposium held in Dakar, Senegal, in November 2025.
He explained that ECONEC organises an annual symposium on a selected theme and that the 2025 edition focused on AI and election integrity.
According to him, participants at the symposium agreed to establish a working group to develop guidelines for the use of AI in electoral processes.
“So that working group was set up and held working sessions and then developed the draft guidelines on the use of AI in electoral processes,” he said.
Mr. Ka explained that the delegation’s primary objective was to validate the draft guidelines, adding that the two-day meeting began on Monday and concluded on Tuesday.
He noted that many of the participants were information technology experts because of the technical nature of the subject.
“When we talk of AI, we talk of IT also,” he said.
The ECONEC official acknowledged Nigeria’s ongoing work in the field, noting that the country already had a unit working on AI.
“We know that in Nigeria, we already have a unit working on AI,” he said, adding that “the practical experiences, sharing of experiences is very important.”
Mr. Ka confirmed that the guidelines had been adopted, noting that attention would now shift to their practical application by electoral commissions across the sub-region.
“Now that the guidelines have been adopted, we are going to see now how in the sub-region we are going to use AI in our electoral processes,” he said.
He reiterated that AI had become an enduring feature of the technological landscape and that electoral bodies needed to focus on managing its application effectively.
“AI is here to stay anyway. There’s no way we can do away with AI anymore,” he said. “How we are going to manage it, that’s what we are thinking about.”
