INEC Blames Registration Officers for AI-Generated Photos, Other Irregularities in Voters’ Register

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has blamed some of its registration officers for introducing suspected artificial intelligence-generated photographs and other questionable records into the preliminary register of voters.

The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, disclosed this on Friday during an appearance on Arise Television, saying some registration officers used their login details to introduce irregularities into the database.

Bayode explained that INEC discovered the questionable entries through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which was deployed to examine voter registration records across the country.

“We have registration officers on the field. And these registration officers, they have login details to log into the system.

“So what we have found is that some of these registration officers, not all of them now, some of them across the states nationwide, they’ve done different things to bring these irregularities onto the register,” he said.

He said some of the suspicious photographs were generated using artificial intelligence, while others resulted from poor registration procedures.

“Some of these pictures are AI-generated. Some of them not AI-generated, but very bad registration. And this thing got into the register by the registration officers and because they have access to register people,” Bayode added.

The ICT director said the commission had identified the questionable records and established how some of the irregularities occurred, although he could not explain why the officers involved introduced them.

“When the ABIS was run on the system, we saw these people. We know what they did. We know how they did it. But honestly, I don’t know why,” he said.

Bayode added that INEC had been working to clean up the register before releasing its preliminary version, noting that the commission was under pressure to complete the exercise within the statutory 90-day period.

The disclosure follows public concerns over suspicious photographs and other irregularities after INEC uploaded its preliminary register of voters to its website on October 26. Screenshots circulated on social media reportedly showed AI-generated photographs attached to voter records in parts of Edo State.

Other complaints included alleged duplicate entries and reports from some registered voters that their details were missing from the online register.

INEC had earlier explained that the online version was the same preliminary register physically displayed at Registration Areas nationwide between October 9 and 15 for the Display, Claims and Objections exercise.

In a statement issued on October 27, the commission said it had identified and flagged questionable records during the physical display and had begun reviewing them and making corrections. It also stressed that the published register was not the final certified version and did not reflect all ongoing data-cleanup activities.

INEC is expected to complete its verification, adjudication and data-cleanup processes before certifying the final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.