INEC flags 268 voter records over suspected AI-generated photos, begins cleanup

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has begun cleaning up its preliminary Register of Voters after identifying records with suspected AI-generated photographs and other irregularities.

The commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, saying INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) had flagged 268 records for review.

“What we are currently doing now is looking at all these 268 records that ABIS already flagged as AI-generated or even something of irregularities,” Bayode said.

He explained that some individuals allegedly used their official credentials to create questionable voter profiles, exploiting a registration option intended for persons with disabilities who have incomplete or no fingers.

According to Bayode, the option, known as special registration, was allegedly used to deceive the system and was among the irregularities identified by ABIS.

He said the commission had begun removing records found to be irregular.

“Those that we have seen, we are cleaning up,” Bayode said.

However, Bayode clarified that INEC would not remove every photograph enhanced with artificial intelligence, distinguishing between images generated entirely by AI and genuine photographs improved using AI tools on mobile phones.

“Those that we know it is the AI on the phone that helped enhance their pictures, we can’t exclude such people because it was the AI on the phone that does that. Such people will still be on the register but those AI-generated, those photographs, all these will be removed. We are already looking at them,” he said.

The issue followed the publication of INEC’s preliminary Register of Voters online on October 26, after screenshots circulated on social media showing questionable photographs attached to voter records, including entries from parts of Edo State.

The concerns also included allegations of duplicate entries and reports that deceased persons’ names appeared on the register.

In response, INEC said the online register was the same preliminary version displayed physically at Registration Areas nationwide from October 9 to 15. The commission explained that the publication did not reflect all the data-cleanup activities already underway.

INEC also stressed that the register was not yet the final certified version, saying the display, claims and objections exercise was intended to give members of the public an opportunity to identify inaccuracies and questionable entries before certification.

The commission said it would complete the necessary verification, adjudication and data-cleanup processes before certifying the final Register of Voters on December 15, 2026.

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