INEC Blames Registration Officers For Al-Generated Photographs On Voters’ Register

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has attributed the appearance of photographs suspected to have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in its preliminary register of voters to irregularities allegedly introduced by some registration officers who had access to its registration system.

Dr Lawrence Bayode, the commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, disclosed this during an appearance on Arise TV.

According to him, some registration officers across the country had used their login credentials to introduce questionable records into the voter database.

The development follows public concerns over the credibility of the voter registration process after INEC published its preliminary register, with suspicious photographs and other irregularities reportedly identified in some entries.

Among the disputed records were entries linked to a polling unit in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, where some photographs appeared to have been generated using AI.

The discovery triggered widespread reactions online, with questions raised about how such images and other questionable records passed through the commission’s registration system.

Explaining the circumstances surrounding the entries, Bayode said registration officers deployed across the country had login details that allowed them to access the system and register voters.

He said the commission’s findings indicated that some officers had introduced irregularities into the database, although he stressed that the problem did not involve all registration officers.

“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,” Bayode said.

The ICT director explained that the questionable entries did not all originate from AI-generated photographs, as some resulted from what he described as poor registration procedures.

According to him, the commission’s examination of the records revealed different forms of irregularities, including photographs suspected to have been generated by artificial intelligence and images captured through improper registration practices.

“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,” he said.

Bayode said the commission identified the questionable records through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which it used to examine the registration database.

He explained that the system enabled INEC to identify problematic entries and establish how some of the irregularities had occurred, although he could not establish the reasons behind the actions of the officers involved.

“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 added.

The disclosure raises questions about compliance with registration procedures and the safeguards available to prevent unauthorised or improper entries from entering the voter database.

However, Bayode’s explanation did not establish the motives of the officers allegedly responsible for the irregularities or indicate whether all the questionable records had been conclusively resolved.

He said INEC had been working to clean up the register before publishing the preliminary version, noting that the exercise was being carried out within the statutory 90-day period.

The publication of the preliminary register on October 26 brought the disputed entries into public view, prompting renewed scrutiny of the commission’s processes for collecting, verifying and maintaining voter information.