AI-generated voter data found on Nigeria’s draft roll ahead of January vote
Fabricated voter details and AI-made ID photos have turned up on Nigeria's draft electoral roll, Semafor reports. Rights groups want an external audit, while the electoral commission blames rogue staff and says the register is still open for review.
Nigeria's electoral commission is under growing pressure after AI-generated voter information and ID photos were found on a draft electoral roll, Semafor reported on Wednesday. Critics say the discovery casts doubt on January's presidential election. The vote is just over 10 weeks away. More than 103 million Nigerians have registered to vote, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). President Bola Tinubu is seeking re-election against a slate of familiar rivals. According to Semafor, the campaign has centred on the economy and security. INEC said the register is a temporary document open to review for errors. It said it would look into "possible technical or procedural lapses" that let the AI-generated entries in. A senior official blamed rogue staff and said the commission "doesn't know why" they would use their logins to tamper with the roll. Advocacy groups, technology analysts and former INEC officials are calling for an independent inquiry. Kolawole Oluwadare, a senior official at the Lagos-based rights group SERAP, told Semafor that INEC wants to play the problem down as a cleanup. He said the matter…
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