The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Network of Electoral Commissions of ECOWAS (ECONEC) are working in the direction of implementing guidelines on using synthetic intelligence (AI) in electoral processes throughout West Africa.
The growth adopted a courtesy go to by an ECONEC delegation, led by the community’s everlasting secretary, Serigne Mamadou Ka, to INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, in Abuja on Tuesday.
The go to was a follow-up to a symposium held in November 2025 on AI and electoral integrity, which led to the institution of a working group to develop guidelines for using AI in electoral processes.
Speaking in the course of the go to, the ECONEC everlasting secretary stated the guidelines had been developed and adopted after a sequence of working periods and a validation assembly that started on Monday and ended on Tuesday.
He stated the engagement with INEC was geared toward sharing sensible experiences and exploring how electoral administration our bodies throughout the West African sub-region may implement the guidelines.
“AI is here to stay anyway. There’s no way we can do away with AI anymore. It’s here and it’s going to stay. How we are going to manage it, that’s what we are thinking about,” he stated.
The everlasting secretary famous that Nigeria already had a unit engaged on AI, including that collaboration with INEC would offer a chance for electoral commissions to study from each other as they combine the expertise into their operations.
He stated the delegation included IT specialists due to the technical points concerned within the software of AI to electoral processes.
Responding, INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, described the go to as well timed and important, notably as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 basic elections.
He stated electoral administration our bodies in West Africa confronted related challenges, making regional cooperation necessary for exchanging concepts, sharing experiences and creating frequent approaches to enhancing election administration.
Amupitan recognized electoral expertise, end result administration, voter schooling, electoral safety and dispute decision as among the crucial areas requiring cooperation amongst election administration our bodies.
He stated INEC was dedicated to strengthening electoral administration via steady studying and institutional reforms, including that the experiences of different international locations may present helpful classes for Nigeria.
He stated preparations for the elections required consideration to each stage of the electoral course of, from planning and voter registration to end result administration.
Amupitan additionally highlighted the potential position of expertise in enhancing electoral processes, together with voter registration, whereas stressing the necessity to strengthen danger evaluation, personnel coaching and election planning.
He listed different areas for enchancment as media engagement, tackling misinformation, electoral safety and selling inclusive participation in elections.
The INEC chairman additional emphasised the significance of institutionalising post-election opinions and implementing suggestions from stakeholders to cut back disputes and strengthen public confidence within the electoral course of.
He stated transparency, institutional integrity and sustained dedication to electoral reforms remained important to strengthening democracy.
The delegation included representatives of electoral administration our bodies from a number of African international locations, together with Senegal, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya and Uganda, in addition to officers of ECOWAS.
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