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2027 Elections: I have Handed Everything Over to God — INEC Chairman Amupitan

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, has said he has handed the responsibility of conducting the 2027 general election over to God, while assuring Nigerians that artificial intelligence will not determine the outcome of the polls.

Amupitan spoke on Wednesday at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, organised by Yiaga Africa.

Reflecting on the demands of his office, he said his faith in God remained his source of strength.

“I’m being reminded of the enormity of the task on me. I’m also encouraged by the word of God, which is, ‘Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ So that has been my anchor.

“And sometimes people say, ‘You are not bothered.’ I said, I’ve handed over everything to God,” he said.

Addressing the role of AI in the 2027 elections, the INEC chairman insisted that technology would not determine who emerges as Nigeria’s leader.

“No, algorithms will not and must never decide the 2027 votes. Algorithms will not decide the vote because the choice of who leads Nigeria belongs exclusively to the Nigerian people,” he said.

He added that AI could support election logistics, improve the deployment of electoral materials and personnel, and help detect inconsistencies in uploaded polling-unit results.

Amupitan disclosed that the 2027 election would involve more than 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He said INEC had completed 10 of the 14 major activities on its election timetable and had begun receiving additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices.

He further noted that the commission had digitised candidate nominations, processed more than 15,000 nominations across 22 political parties and introduced online voter registration.

However, he stressed that human collation remained the legal standard for declaring election results, while AI would serve as a supporting tool rather than replace human decision-making.