*Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has cautioned media organisations against publishing or declaring unofficial election results ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
Amupitan warned that the publication of privately collated and unverified figures could create conflicting narratives, undermine confidence in officially declared results and potentially threaten public peace.
The INEC chairman gave the warning on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC 2026) in Enugu.
He was represented at the conference by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Enugu State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Chukwu.
Delivering his address, titled “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,”Amupitan urged editors to strengthen their verification procedures and prevent their platforms from becoming channels for election misinformation and artificial intelligence-generated disinformation.
He said the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence, voice cloning, deepfake videos and automated bot networks had made it possible for malicious actors to manufacture convincing but false election-related content.
According to him, political actors and other operatives could now produce fake videos of electoral officials announcing results, cloned audio recordings purportedly belonging to INEC officials and manipulated result sheets designed to appear authentic.
Amupitan said: “Let’s resist premature result declarations. Under the Electoral Act, statutory authority to declare election results rests exclusively with INEC.”
He added that amplifying unverified, privately collated figures circulated by political actors on social media could create conflicting public narratives capable of undermining official election outcomes.
He urged the media to educate citizens on how to identify synthetic content, fake letterheads, manipulated result sheets and other forms of digitally generated misinformation.
The INEC chairman said the media’s responsibility during elections should be guided by accuracy rather than the pressure to break news first.
“The pressure on modern newsrooms to be first is immense. But in national elections, it is vastly more important to be right than to be first,” he said.
Amupitan warned that publishing unverified and sensational claims, including fake result sheets, doctored videos and unconfirmed statements, could give institutional legitimacy to deliberate deception and create consequences that would be difficult to reverse.
He called on the Nigerian Guild of Editors to regard media gatekeeping as an important component of national security and democratic defence.
INEC deploys AI tools
The INEC chairman disclosed that the Commission had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department as part of measures to confront emerging technological threats to the electoral process.
He said INEC had also commenced the deployment of automated AI auditing tools within its Results Management process to identify discrepancies before final verification.
According to him, the automated systems would operate under a five-pillar AI Governance Framework and remain subject to mandatory human auditing.
Amupitan said the threat posed by synthetic disinformation extended beyond individual falsehoods, warning that it could erode citizens’ confidence in genuine information from constitutional authorities.
He said when citizens became unable to distinguish authentic information from manipulated content, cynicism could replace civic engagement and weaken confidence in democratic institutions.
He noted that the media had a particularly important role to play because elections were no longer contested only at polling units but also in the information space.
On preparations for the 2027 elections, Amupitan said INEC had commenced a six-zone Interactive Meetings and Readiness Assessment tour, beginning in Lagos on September 7, to assess the state of preparedness across the country.
*Media welfare and election reporting*
The INEC chairman also linked the welfare of journalists to the quality and independence of election reporting.
He said media organisations would find it difficult to expect journalists facing unpaid salaries, financial insecurity and inadequate welfare to consistently resist political inducement and other pressures.
“A poorly compensated journalist is vulnerable; a financially neglected newsroom is fertile ground for compromise,” he said.
Amupitan argued that journalists receiving decent remuneration and structured welfare would be better positioned to resist financial inducement, interrogate false narratives and report elections objectively.
He said INEC had similarly taken steps to improve the welfare of its workforce, disclosing that the Commission established the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS), separating its workforce from the regular Civil Service salary structure with effect from January 1, 2026.
Editors, traditional rulers seek stronger collaboration
In his opening address, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Eze Anaba, said the media had a responsibility to help sustain democracy by holding power accountable and providing space for diverse voices.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that our democracy survives. The media must hold power accountable and provide the space for diverse voices to be heard,” Anaba said.
He added that political actors were not the only stakeholders responsible for the survival of democracy, noting that the judiciary and the media also had important roles to play.
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, called on INEC to establish a joint Rapid Response Desk involving newsrooms to promptly counter election misinformation.
Achebe also urged editors to help tackle voter apathy by using their platforms to educate Nigerians on the importance of participating in the 2027 electoral cycle.
Similarly, the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, stressed the importance of a free press to democratic governance.
Onaiyekan said Nigeria had a diverse media landscape, reflected in the wide range of newspapers, radio and television stations, as well as the emergence of social media.
He noted, however, that artificial intelligence was the latest major development in the communication space, offering significant possibilities while also presenting dangers if not properly controlled.