INEC’s AI Plan Reckless, Unacceptable – Obidient Movement
...Urges Amupitan to 'Retrace His Steps' Before 2027 Elections
The Obidient Movement has rejected the proposed deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the collation of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), describing the plan as “reckless and unacceptable.”
The Movement had on September 29 questioned INEC’s plans to deploy AI for the 2027 general elections, calling for independent scrutiny of the proposal.
The Peter Obi support group reiterated its position in a statement issued by its Media and Communications Directorate on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, amid growing concerns over the proposed use of AI in the general elections next year.
According to the group, INEC should not introduce AI into one of the most sensitive stages of the electoral process while admitting that its governance framework for the technology has yet to be finalised.
The Obidient Movement argued that Nigerians should not be subjected to what it described as another untested electoral experiment, insisting that the Commission should immediately abandon plans to deploy AI in results collation.
The group stated that the controversy surrounding the proposed technology was particularly troubling given the credibility crisis that followed the 2023 general elections.
“After the disastrous credibility crisis surrounding the 2023 elections, INEC should be doing everything possible to restore public confidence,” the statement said, accusing the Commission of introducing processes that could further raise questions about how election results would be generated, verified, and declared.
The Movement also criticised INEC over its handling of the 2023 election results, particularly the controversy surrounding the Commission’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal. It alleged that the electoral body had previously blamed a “glitch” for problems associated with the system.
It warned that Nigerians would not accept any attempt to attribute possible irregularities in the 2027 election results to technological failures.
The group further expressed concern over recent warnings by the INEC Chairman against individuals, media organisations, and others announcing or declaring results that had not been officially released by the Commission.
While acknowledging INEC’s statutory responsibility to declare official election results, the Obidient Movement asserted that the warning, coming alongside the proposed deployment of AI and an unfinished AI governance framework, raised questions about the extent of control the Commission intends to exercise over the electoral process.
The group also raised allegations concerning the relationship between INEC, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the administration of President Bola Tinubu, while referencing rumours about alleged meetings involving political figures.
“There have been rumours of the INEC Chairman being in France with Tinubu, Wike, and other election rigging political actors of the APC to perfect their rigging strategies for 2027.
“This could explain Wike’s renewed confidence in who he will allow to win and who he won’t allow to win in 2027. It also explains the INEC Chairman’s insistence that Al will be used in the 2027 elections, despite the fact that INEC has perpetually failed in the basics.”
The Obidient Movement maintained that the credibility of the 2027 elections would depend on a transparent, auditable, and verifiable process through which every result could be traced from the polling unit to the final declaration.
It therefore demanded that INEC immediately abandon plans to use AI in election results collation and publish a clear and independently auditable framework governing every technology to be deployed during the electoral process.
The group also called for election results to remain traceable to individual polling units and verifiable by political parties, election observers, journalists, and citizens.
Among its other demands, the Movement urged INEC to adopt five commitments it attributed to Mundus Analytics, including the publication of Forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D, and EC8E on the IReV platform.
It further demanded guarantees that the outcome of elections would be determined by voters rather than political actors or electoral officials.
The Obidient Movement urged the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, to “retrace his steps” before the 2027 elections, reiterating that Nigerians would not surrender their votes to technology, bureaucracy or manipulation.
“Every vote must count, every result must be verifiable, and the true choice of the Nigerian people must prevail,” the group added.
