The Independent National Electoral Commission has drawn a firm line in its investigation into alleged digital impersonation of its chairman AI-generated analysis and screenshots will carry no weight in its findings.
INEC’s ICT Director, Lawrence Bayode, made this clear in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, responding to resurfaced social media posts linked to an account allegedly connected to commission chairman Joash Amupitan.
Rather than rely on unverified digital materials, Bayode said the commission is bringing in security agencies and independent forensic experts to get to the bottom of it.
“We are taking this further because even though we have referred this to security agencies, we rely on evidence,” he said.
“We are also going to be engaging a third party forensic experts to look into this.”
On the question of screenshots circulating online, he was unequivocal.
“I will not base my judgments on screenshots. I will not allow that to guide my conclusion.”
The issue, Bayode suggested, is bigger than one account.
He described what the commission is seeing as a coordinated pattern of digital impersonation not an isolated incident.
He also flagged that the account in question had reportedly been renamed at some point, raising additional red flags about manipulation.
When an anchor on the programme cited analysis from the AI tool GROK as potential evidence, Bayode urged caution.
“GROK honestly can hallucinate, just like any modern artificial intelligence system,” he said, adding that AI outputs must always be independently verified before informing any public or institutional decision.
He also noted the ease with which bad actors can exploit publicly available information.
“Email addresses and phone numbers you mentioned are in the public domain. Anyone who wants to create havoc can use all of this information this way.”
Looking ahead, Bayode warned that the digital threat landscape is only going to intensify as Nigeria approaches its 2027 general elections and that INEC is already preparing.
“We are going to be deploying technology massively during the 2027 general election. If this is already happening now, then we need to ensure that we do the needful.”
The controversy traces back to a 2023 post shared by APC National Youth Leader Dayo Israel, which critics later claimed received engagement specifically the phrase “Victory is sure” from an account they alleged belonged to Amupitan.
The post celebrated the author’s success in flipping polling units in an Igbo-dominated community toward the APC.
INEC has consistently dismissed the allegations as false, insisting that the chairman does not operate any personal X account and has never engaged in partisan commentary.
The commission says it is actively working with security agencies to identify those responsible for the impersonation campaign.
