The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the establishment of a dedicated Artificial Intelligence, AI, division within its Information and Communication Technology Department.
The announcement was made in a statement issued by National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, following the Commission’s regular weekly meeting in Abuja.
The creation of the AI division comes after INEC’s participation in several continental conferences addressing the impact of AI on electoral processes.
The Commission acknowledged the dual nature of AI, recognising both the risks it poses, such as the spread of misinformation and content manipulation, and the opportunities it presents in data-driven decision-making, risk management, service automation, and geo-spatial intelligence.
INEC emphasised that the new division will harness AI to improve logistical planning, material distribution, and polling unit allocation, thereby enhancing the integrity and efficiency of elections through predictive analytics and intelligent automation.