INEC warns journalists against fake results and deepfakes ahead of 2027

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked Nigerian journalists not to publish or broadcast election results that the commission has not declared, warning that fake figures and manipulated content could damage public trust ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The warning came from the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Abia State, Prof. Sylvia Uchenna Agu, at a media retreat and press week held by the Correspondents' Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abia State Council, in Umuahia. More than 30 media practitioners took part, according to the organisers.

Agu listed misinformation, disinformation, artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes, cloned voices and altered result sheets as growing threats to election credibility. She urged newsrooms to check election information with INEC before publishing, and said reporters should not become channels for spreading unverified results.

"The race to break the news must not break the nation," she said.

What the law now requires

Agu said the Electoral Act 2026 has strengthened safeguards around the process. It mandates the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for accrediting voters and the electronic transmission of polling unit results to INEC's Result Viewing Portal (IReV). It also prescribes penalties for officials who deliberately frustrate electronic transmission of results, she said.

She explained that the electronic EC8A system is built to flag differences between handwritten polling unit result sheets and electronically captured figures. Where the numbers do not match, the upload is held until the discrepancy is resolved.

Agu recalled the 2023 elections in Abia, where she said BVAS recorded 27,000 accredited voters in one local government area but the figure was allegedly altered by hand to 102,000. The Independent reported that she named the council as Obingwa; Vanguard and The Sun referred only to "a local government area" without naming it. She said ICT experts settled the dispute by checking the BVAS figures on IReV.

"BVAS was the game changer in 2023," she said, adding that it "checkmated frivolous accreditations."

Technology alone is not enough

The REC said INEC is improving BVAS, IReV and its Results Management System, and is tightening cybersecurity, data protection, system monitoring and disaster recovery. She said the commission is also exploring the responsible use of artificial intelligence for planning and data analysis, with human oversight.

She stressed that technology cannot deliver credible elections without training, testing and cooperation among officials.

Agu also cited Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates the press to hold government accountable, and asked journalists to balance that watchdog role with professional ethics, accuracy and responsible reporting during the sensitive election period.

Veteran journalist Chief Ralph Egbu, who also spoke at the event, described the media as a critical constitutional partner in the electoral process. He urged journalists to keep their reports balanced and not to detach themselves from professional ethics.

Chapel chairman Steve Oko said the retreat was part of the chapel's contribution to deepening democracy and improving journalists' efficiency. He said the theme, "The Future of Journalism in an Era of Disinformation: Preparing Abia Media Practitioners for Democracy and the 2027 Polls," spoke to the struggle between truth and falsehood. He warned colleagues against sacrificing ethics for political, financial or personal gain, and said the future of journalism belongs to those who verify best, not those who publish first.

What happens next: INEC says it will keep working with digital platforms to flag demonstrably false election content and will step up voter education through its official channels. Journalists were asked to take election questions to the commission before going to press.