LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s electoral chief has issued a sharp warning to digital publishers over sensational reporting, cautioning that unverified claims and fake news risk severely damaging public confidence and deepening voter apathy ahead of the country’s 2027 general election.
Speaking on Thursday at the annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Lagos, Professor Joash Amupitan, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), urged digital media outlets to prioritize accuracy over breaking news speed.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by Lagos Resident Electoral Commissioner Professor Ayobami Salami, the electoral chief warned that misinformation inflicts lasting harm on democratic institutions across West Africa.”Fake news, unverified leaks, and sensationalised reports directly destroy public trust, incite civil unrest, and induce voter apathy,” Prof. Amupitan said, pointing to the rise of synthetic media and artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes designed to exploit political and ethnic fault lines.”When an unverified claim regarding electoral fraud is published, the damage to public confidence is immediate and enduring; subsequent retractions or fact-checks rarely repair the injury,” he added.
Tech Defence and Logistics Upgrade
To counter disinformation and bolster election security, INEC announced it is partnering with tech giants Google and Microsoft to deploy automated AI data-auditing tools and multi-layered cyber defenses aimed at preventing unauthorized data injection and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on its databases. The commission revealed that Nigeria’s electoral roll has grown to approximately 103 million registered voters following the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise. Nationwide distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) is set to begin immediately.
Addressing operational vulnerabilities that have dogged past elections, INEC confirmed it has already begun the early procurement and physical dispatch of non-sensitive voting materials to all 36 state offices and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). New operational pick-up vehicles are also being deployed to navigate difficult terrains, riverine areas, and remote border settlements across the country’s 774 local government areas.
Shared Responsibility and Legal Mandate
The electoral authority proposed a three-point partnership with digital news outlets, focusing on joint digital fact-verification, stricter editorial self-regulation against broadcasting unverified poll results, and a coordinated national voter education drive. Clarifying legal protocols around result declarations, Salami emphasized that under Nigerian law, only designated Returning Officers appointed by the commission hold the constitutional authority to announce election outcomes.
Former Nigerian Bar Association president Olisa Agbakoba, who chaired the event, called on INEC to guarantee free and credible polls, while urging candidates and media platforms to address key socio-economic challenges, including the future of the nation’s controversial fuel subsidy regime.
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