INEC and ECONEC Adopt AI Guidelines for Elections

INEC and the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions have adopted guidelines for using artificial intelligence in electoral processes, while Nigeria’s election chairman says the technology must support, not determine, the outcome of the 2027 general election. The guidelines followed a two-day validation meeting in Abuja that ended Tuesday, October 13. INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan said the regional framework was adopted during a visit by an ECONEC delegation. Serigne Ka, an ECONEC official, said the guidelines were developed by a working group formed after a November 2025 symposium on artificial intelligence and election integrity in Dakar, Senegal. Ka said attention would now turn to how electoral commissions across the subregion apply the framework. The adopted text and specific implementation requirements were not detailed in the reports. The adoption marks a shared regional step, but does not by itself establish how safeguards will work in practice. At an AI and Democracy Forum in Abuja on October 14, Amupitan said the choice of Nigeria’s leaders must remain with voters.