The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has introduced an app-based camera that blocks photographs from being imported from outside the system, replacing web cameras in voter registration after admitting that AI-generated pictures found their way into the national register of voters.
Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman, announced this at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, where he traced the breach to compromised passwords, some of them used by those in authority.
This development came the same day INEC removed 1,609,553 records from the register and identified 54 staff across 10 states as complicit in registration irregularities, with the presidential election now fixed for January 16, 2027.
Amupitan said INEC traced the access points used to bring the AI-generated photographs into the register and explained that it takes just one person to compromise the password.
“Some of that access came from authorised persons. Some of those things are given in authority, and when that is done, you know what AI can do,” he noted.
The fix, as he described it, is to stop treating the camera as an open door. “It is what is on the app that will take pictures,” Amupitan said, adding that officials should not use any URL and begin to import pictures here and there.
The issue first surfaced when the preliminary register went online in October, and screenshots of suspicious photographs triggered backlash on social media. INEC acknowledged the concerns the next day and later attributed some of the irregularities to its own registration officers.
The Commission’s technical assessment found that some registration personnel deliberately circumvented established procedures and misused provisions meant for exceptional cases, including registration of persons with disabilities.
According to the Amupitan, 54 persons have been identified as complicit and are facing disciplinary action, including possible prosecution.
INEC has not disclosed how many photographs were AI-generated or how many credentials were compromised. It has also not stated whether the 54 staff are the same people behind the AI-generated images but confirmed that all of them work for INEC.
“We are not covering anything,” Amupitan stated, adding that security agencies are running their own investigations.
INEC described the recent incidents as an early warning. It approved an AI governance framework on Monday, developed with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the UK High Commission, and reviewed its ICT and cybersecurity arrangements ahead of the polls.
COURTESY: Businessday
