ABUJA, Nigeria — The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has traced the appearance of suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs and other irregularities in its preliminary Register of Voters to alleged misconduct by some registration officers who had access to its voter registration system.
The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, disclosed this on Friday during an appearance on Arise Television, saying some registration officers across the country allegedly used their login credentials to introduce questionable records into the database.
Bayode explained that the irregularities were uncovered through the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which was deployed to examine the registration records.
According to him, investigations revealed that some of the questionable photographs were generated using artificial intelligence, while others resulted from poor registration procedures.
“We have registration officers on the field. And these registration officers, they have login details to log into the system.
“So what we have found is that some of these registration officers, not all of them now, some of them across the states nationwide, they’ve done different things to bring these irregularities onto the register,” he said.
The ICT director said the commission had identified the affected records and established how some of the irregularities were introduced into the database.
“Some of these pictures are AI-generated. Some of them not AI-generated, but very bad registration. And this thing got into the register by the registration officers and because they have access to register people,” he added.
Bayode, however, said he could not establish the motive behind the actions of the officers involved.
“When the ABIS was run on the system, we saw these people. We know what they did. We know how they did it. But honestly, I don’t know why,” he said.
He explained that INEC had commenced efforts to clean up the register even before publishing the preliminary version, noting that the commission was working within the statutory 90-day period allowed for the exercise.
The disclosure comes amid growing concerns over the credibility of the preliminary voters’ register uploaded to INEC’s website on October 26.
The publication triggered public scrutiny after screenshots circulated on social media showing suspicious photographs attached to voter records, including entries in parts of Edo State.
Some of the photographs were suspected to have been generated using AI, raising questions about the integrity of the registration process and the commission’s data verification procedures.
Other concerns included alleged duplicate registrations and complaints by some voters that their personal details were missing from the online register.
INEC had earlier clarified that the online publication was the same preliminary register physically displayed at Registration Areas nationwide between October 9 and 15 under the Display, Claims and Objections exercise.
In a statement on October 27, the commission acknowledged that questionable records had been identified and flagged during the physical display, adding that it had commenced a review and corrective measures.
It stressed that the published register was not the final certified version, explaining that the online release did not capture all the data-cleanup activities still underway.
The commission is expected to conclude its verification, adjudication and data-cleanup processes before certifying the final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.
