INEC uncovers AI-generated photos, fake records in voters’ register, blames officials

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

The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, disclosed this on Friday during an interview on Arise Television.

Bayode said some registration officers allegedly used their official login details to upload questionable records into INEC’s database.

He explained that the commission uncovered the irregularities through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which was deployed to examine and verify the voter registration records.
“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 explained that while some of the photographs were generated using artificial intelligence, others were products of 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 because they have access to register people,” Bayode said.

The ICT director added that the commission had identified the questionable records and established how some of the irregularities occurred, but could not determine 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.

Bayode said INEC had begun cleaning up the register before publishing its preliminary version, noting that the commission was working within the statutory 90-day period for the exercise.

The disclosure comes amid public concerns over suspicious photographs and other anomalies in the preliminary register uploaded to INEC’s website on October 26.

Screenshots circulated on social media had shown photographs suspected to be AI-generated attached to voter records in parts of Edo State. Other concerns included alleged duplicate entries and complaints by some registered voters that their details were missing from the online register.

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