WorldStage– Microsoft has pledged to use the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) final list of candidates for the 2027 general election to help prevent its artificial intelligence tools from generating misleading images of politicians contesting the polls.
To execute the pledge, It said it will integrate the final candidate list from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into its systems ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The move, according to Microsoft, aims to block its generative artificial intelligence tools from creating misleading or unrealistic images of politicians contesting the polls.
The commitment was formalized in an outcome document following the AI and Democracy Forum (AIDF) 2026, just concluded in Abuja.
Hosted under the theme “Will Algorithms Determine the 2027 Vote? Safeguarding Nigeria’s 2027 General Election in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” the forum was organized in partnership with civil society group Yiaga Africa.
Speaking during a panel session at the event, Dave Liechtman, Microsoft’s Senior Director of Global Elections, stated that the initiative is part of the company’s broader commitment to combatting deceptive AI use and protecting candidate likenesses.
“We’re going to load that candidate list into our system to make sure that generative AI cannot be used to generate unrealistic images of candidates,” Liechtman said, emphasizing cooperation with INEC as the authoritative source of truth.
The intervention comes at a critical time for Nigeria’s democracy as the country expects more than 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units for the 2027 cycle.
Stakeholders have raised intense concerns over how malicious actors could deploy deepfakes, voice cloning, and synthetic media to spread disinformation or impersonate electoral officials.
In response to the emerging digital threats, INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan revealed that the commission has established a dedicated AI unit within its Information and Communication Technology Directorate.
The unit, according to the INEC boss, will utilize deepfake detection software and digital monitoring tools to guard the electoral space.
Amupitan reassured the public that critical choices, including voter accreditation and result collation, will remain under human oversight.
The AIDF outcome document also outlined joint commitments from the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) to establish unified regional guidelines for responsible AI use.
It also recommended that political parties adopt an ethical AI code of conduct and urged tech platforms to improve content moderation in local Nigerian languages.
Nigeria’s presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday, January 16, 2027, followed by governorship polls on February 6, 2027.
