The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has declared that algorithms must never determine the outcome of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
Amupitan made the declaration at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, insisting that the decision on who governs the country belongs to Nigerian voters.
“Algorithms will not, and must never, decide the 2027 vote,” he said.
He acknowledged that artificial intelligence would influence the information voters receive and the way elections are organised, but stressed that technology must not replace human judgment in critical electoral decisions.
“The choice of who leads Nigeria belongs exclusively to the Nigerian people,” Amupitan added.
The INEC chairman said the commission would retain human oversight over result collation, voter accreditation and candidate qualification rather than leave such decisions entirely to automated systems.
He also disclosed that INEC had completed 10 of the 14 major operational milestones under the Electoral Act 2026.
The commission has also introduced online voter registration and digitised candidate nominations, according to his address.
2027: Algorithms must never decide election outcome – INEC chair Amupitan