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• APC demands independent probe, ADC seeks chairman’s resignation
• NDC raises alarm over 103m voters, urges public scrutiny
• PDP warns against technical glitches, ex-commissioner alleges breach of Electoral Act
From Fred Itua, Romanus Ugwu, Ndubuisi Orji and Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has come under mounting pressure from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over suspected Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated photographs discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published on its website, with demands ranging from an independent investigation and comprehensive audit to the resignation of the commission’s chairman.
The controversy, which initially erupted on social media, has raised fresh questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s voter database barely three months before the January 16, 2027 general election, with political parties warning that the inclusion of fabricated identities, if established, could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
Although INEC has acknowledged the concerns and announced an investigation, the political parties insist that assurances alone would not suffice, demanding explanations on how the suspicious photographs entered the register, the number of affected records, whether Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had been issued against them and the measures being taken to prevent a recurrence.
The controversy has also united the ruling party and opposition parties in demanding accountability, although they differ sharply on whether the commission’s leadership should remain in office.
In separate interviews with Daily Sun, APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, said the commission had serious questions to answer and called for an independent and transparent investigation to establish whether the voter database had been deliberately compromised or the suspicious entries resulted from technical failures.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, Yilwatda cautioned against accusing opposition parties or other political actors without credible evidence, insisting that the integrity of the electoral process must take precedence over partisan considerations.
“I won’t accuse the opposition, or any political party, without credible evidence,” he said. “Electoral integrity is too important to be reduced to speculation or partisan finger pointing.”
The APC chairman said the investigation must establish who introduced the photographs, how they entered the database and whether existing safeguards were breached, stressing that the commission had an obligation to provide Nigerians with verifiable answers before the final certification of the register scheduled for December 15, 2026.
He, however, maintained that INEC could still be trusted to conduct credible elections, describing the controversy as an opportunity for the commission to demonstrate that its verification and correction mechanisms were effective.
Yilwatda also warned that the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence posed serious threats to electoral integrity, particularly where malicious actors deployed the technology to fabricate videos, clone voices, manipulate public information or announce fictitious election results.
The ADC adopted a tougher position, with its Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, declaring that the credibility of the commission and its leadership was now on trial.
Shaibu rejected suggestions that the irregularities should attract less scrutiny because the register was still preliminary, insisting that the commission must explain how the questionable photographs escaped its verification processes.
“A preliminary register is not a licence for carelessness,” he declared.
He demanded a comprehensive disclosure of the number of affected voter records, the origin of the suspicious images, whether PVCs had been issued against the entries and the identities of officials or other persons responsible for any established breaches.
Although he acknowledged that the presence of suspected AI-generated photographs did not, by itself, establish an attempt to manipulate the 2027 election, Shaibu warned that the development exposed vulnerabilities that could be exploited to manufacture voter identities, compromise electoral records and spread disinformation.
He consequently challenged the INEC chairman to restore public confidence through a transparent investigation and the production of a verifiable voters’ register or relinquish his position.
“The INEC Chairman must restore confidence through a transparent investigation and a verifiable voters’ register. If he cannot guarantee that, he should resign,” Shaibu said.
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He added that the commission should undergo a comprehensive institutional overhaul if investigations established systemic failure or complicity in the manipulation of voter records.
Similarly, the National Leader of the NDC, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, described the allegations as a national embarrassment, warning that doubts about the authenticity of voter records could cast a shadow over the credibility of the entire electoral process.
Dickson noted that INEC had announced approximately 103 million registered voters, insisting that Nigerians were entitled to know whether the entries represented genuine, eligible voters rather than fictitious or duplicated identities.
“The principle of garbage in, garbage out applies here,” he said. “If the underlying data are unreliable, the credibility of the electoral process could be undermined.”
The former Bayelsa State governor urged the commission to move beyond general assurances and provide verifiable information about the affected records, the extent of the irregularities and the measures being taken to correct them.
He also called on Nigerians to take advantage of the public display of the preliminary register by scrutinising voter entries in their communities and reporting suspicious names, photographs or other discrepancies to the appropriate authorities.
The PDP, while acknowledging INEC’s decision to investigate the complaints, warned that Nigerians would not tolerate technical failures or explanations capable of undermining confidence in the 2027 polls.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, commended the commission for acknowledging the concerns and promising to examine its systems, describing the response as a potentially encouraging indication of its willingness to address identified shortcomings.
“If INEC will own up to this, then it gives us confidence that this INEC is determined to conduct a credible exercise,” Mohammed said.
He, however, warned that the commission must ensure that all identified deficiencies were corrected before the elections, stressing that technical glitches would not be acceptable as an explanation for failures affecting the credibility of the exercise.
“I believe Nigerians will not understand the language of anything called technical glitches in the 2027 elections,” he declared.
Beyond the political parties, a former INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, accused the commission of undermining public confidence through its handling of the preliminary register even before the controversy over the photographs emerged.
Okoye alleged that INEC failed to display the register online within the period prescribed by law and only did so after mounting public pressure, a development he said reinforced suspicions about the commission’s transparency.
“This further fuelled the perception that the commission had something to hide,” he said.
Citing Sections 19 and 9(6) of the Electoral Act, 2026, Okoye maintained that the public display of the voters’ register was a statutory obligation rather than an administrative privilege that the commission could exercise at its discretion.
“A regulator that disregards the law risks undermining its own credibility,” he warned.
The former commissioner also alleged that attempts to compromise the voters’ register were not new, claiming that some political actors had previously enlisted the cooperation of registration officers to manipulate voter records during registration exercises.
He noted that the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration exercise had recorded 10,772,421 registrations, stressing the importance of identifying suspicious entries and holding those responsible accountable.
Okoye urged INEC to investigate any registration officers implicated in wrongdoing and refer them, alongside their alleged sponsors, to law enforcement agencies for prosecution where evidence of criminal conduct was established.
The commission has acknowledged public concerns over the questionable photographs and commenced an investigation, assuring Nigerians that identified irregularities would be addressed before the final register is certified.
However, with the December 15 certification deadline approaching, the commission faces demands to establish the source and scale of the suspected irregularities, demonstrate the effectiveness of its verification safeguards and reassure political parties and voters that only genuine, eligible Nigerians will appear on the register for the 2027 elections.
