The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has commenced the cleanup of its preliminary Register of Voters after identifying 268 records containing suspected artificial intelligence (AI)-generated photographs and other irregularities.
The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, disclosed this on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, explaining that its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) had flagged the records for further investigation.
“What we are currently doing now is looking at all these 268 records that ABIS already flagged as AI-generated or even something of irregularities,” Bayode said.
He explained that some individuals allegedly exploited a special registration option designed for persons with disabilities who have incomplete fingers or no fingers to create questionable voter profiles.
According to him, some applicants allegedly used official credentials to manipulate the process, taking advantage of the special registration provision to circumvent the system.
Bayode said INEC had begun removing records found to contain irregularities.
“Those that we have seen, we are cleaning up,” he said.
However, he clarified that the commission would not automatically disqualify voters whose photographs had been enhanced using AI-powered tools on mobile phones.
He distinguished between genuine photographs improved through AI applications and images generated entirely by artificial intelligence, saying only the latter would be removed.
“Those that we know it is the AI on the phone that helped enhance their pictures, we can’t exclude such people because it was the AI on the phone that does that. Such people will still be on the register, but those AI-generated photographs, all these will be removed.
“We are already looking at them,” he said.
The development follows public concerns over INEC’s preliminary Register of Voters, which was published online on 26 October, after screenshots circulated on social media showing questionable photographs attached to voter records, including entries from parts of Edo State.
Other concerns raised included alleged duplicate registrations and reports that the names of deceased persons appeared on the register.
In its earlier response, INEC explained that the online register was the same preliminary document displayed physically at Registration Areas across the country from 9 to 15 October.
The commission maintained that the publication did not capture all the data-cleanup exercises already underway, stressing that the register was still preliminary and had not been certified as final.
It said the display, claims and objections exercise was specifically designed to enable members of the public to identify errors, duplicate entries and other questionable records before the final register is approved.
INEC said it would conclude the necessary verification, adjudication and data-cleanup processes before certifying the final Register of Voters on 15 December 2026.
(Channels Tv)
