By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has approved the creation of an Artificial Intelligence Division under its ICT Department to continue to harness the positive aspects of AI and mitigate its negative impact on elections.
This was confirmed in a statement on Thursday by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman
Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Sam Olumekun.
The AI Division, according to Olumekun,
will enable INEC to better coordinate and maximise existing technology investments through centralised AI governance.
He added that the division Iwill also enhance decision-making through data-driven insights, risk management and voter engagement.
Furthermore, Olumekun said that it will strengthen electoral credibility through predictive analytics, automation and intelligent safeguards.
This initiative, he stressed, puts the Commission in the forefront of institutionalising AI capabilities within INEC’s ICT infrastructure.
He added that it is also an important step in our ongoing reform of the electoral process in areas that only require administrative action by the Commission.
The statement by Olumekun reads, “The Commission held its regular weekly meeting today, Thursday 22nd May 2025. Among other issues, the meeting considered the increasing relevance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to elections and electoral activities in Nigeria and across the world.
“Recently, the Commission attended several conferences with colleagues around the continent on the impact of AI on elections.
“These interactions were not only motivated by the concern over the use of AI to spread fake news or manipulate content online but also to utilise its benefits for data-driven decision-making, risk detection and mitigation, deepening voter services automation and geo-spatial intelligence in support of logistic optimisation for better material distribution and polling unit allocation.
“Consequently, the Commission approved the creation of an Artificial Intelligence Division under the ICT Department to continue to harness the positive aspects of AI and mitigate its negative impact on elections.
“The Division will enable the Commission to better coordinate and maximise existing technology investments through centralised AI governance.
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