The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has blamed some of its registration officers for the appearance of suspected AI-generated photographs and other irregular entries on its preliminary voters’ register, accusing them of compromising the registration process to manipulate the system.
INEC said the anomaly was discovered during its ongoing cleanup of the register ahead of the next general elections, intensifying concerns over the integrity of the country’s voter rolls ahead of the 2027 elections.
Dr. Lawrence Bayode, INEC’s Director of Information and Communication
Technology, said some field officers used official login credentials to introduce questionable records into the voter database.
He stressed that the problem did not involve all registration officers.
“Some of these pictures are AI-generated,” he said, adding that “some of them are not AI-generated, but have very bad registration.”
“This thing got into the register by the registration officers… because they have access to register people,” Bayode said in a television interview.
Public scrutiny intensified after INEC published its preliminary register on October 26.
Social-media users flagged suspicious portraits, including entries from a polling unit in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, where several photographs appeared artificial.
INEC said the online register was the same preliminary list displayed physically at registration areas from October 9 to 15 during its claims-and-objections exercise.
The commission said it had flagged questionable records during that display and that the online version did not reflect all ongoing data-cleanup work.
Bayode said INEC identified the problematic entries using its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which audits the registration database.
He said the commission understood what the officers did and how they did it, but had not established why.
The commission is continuing verification, adjudication and data cleanup before certifying the final register, scheduled for December 15.
INEC has not said whether all questionable records have been resolved or whether disciplinary action will follow.
INEC maintains that the preliminary register is not the certified final roll and that the display process is intended to surface inaccuracies before certification.
The commission has promised corrective action based on verified findings.
