https://en.sputniknews.africa/20260812/voter-trust-at-risk-ai-powered-interference-nigerias-next-election-and-implications-for-africa-1088272823.html
Voter Trust at Risk: AI-Powered Interference, Nigeria’s Next Election and Implications for Africa
Voter Trust at Risk: AI-Powered Interference, Nigeria’s Next Election and Implications for Africa
Sputnik Africa
A new report warns that Nigeria’s 2027 general election could be the country’s first election contested in an era of widespread access to generative artificial... 12.08.2026, Sputnik Africa
2026-08-12T18:07+0200
2026-08-12T18:07+0200
2026-08-12T18:07+0200
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Voter Trust at Risk: AI-Powered Interference, Nigeria’s Next Election and Implications for Africa
Sputnik Africa
A new report warns that Nigeria’s 2027 general election could be the country’s first election contested in an era of widespread access to generative artificial intelligence tools, with fabricated audio, video, and images potentially spreading rapidly through private and encrypted digital channels.
With about 109 million internet users as of October 2025, equivalent to 45.5 percent of the population, Nigeria has a large digital audience through which political information can circulate across multiple platforms. DataReportal’s Digital 2026: Nigeria report found that between 89.2 and 96.5 percent of Nigerian internet users ages 16 and older reported using major digital platforms during the month preceding the survey, illustrating the scale of digital engagement among the country’s online population. Bloomwit Africa’s Navigating Nigeria 2027 study points to the breadth of this multiplatform environment and says political narratives can develop in closed, encrypted groups and forwarded messages and regional-language communities before reaching mainstream media or open social platforms. That creates a monitoring challenge for organizations relying primarily on public channels to identify and respond to emerging narratives.African Currents spoke with Nigerian strategic communications, public relations, and public affairs adviser Oti Egwu, who warned that the 2027 election could become Nigeria’s first “deepfake election,” with AI-generated disinformation circulating virally across social media channels and local-language networks. He called for stronger detection and verification systems ahead of the election.Listen to the full interview on the African Currents podcast, presented by Sputnik Africa.► Stream the podcast on Telegram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Pocket Casts, Afripods, Podcast Addict.► Subscribe to and explore all the episodes of African Currents.
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Voter Trust at Risk: AI-Powered Interference, Nigeria’s Next Election and Implications for Africa
A new report warns that Nigeria’s 2027 general election could be the country’s first election contested in an era of widespread access to generative artificial intelligence tools, with fabricated audio, video, and images potentially spreading rapidly through private and encrypted digital channels.
With about 109 million internet users as of October 2025, equivalent to 45.5 percent of the population, Nigeria has a large digital audience through which political information can circulate across multiple platforms. DataReportal’s Digital 2026: Nigeria report found that between 89.2 and 96.5 percent of Nigerian internet users ages 16 and older reported using major digital platforms during the month preceding the survey, illustrating the scale of digital engagement among the country’s online population. Bloomwit Africa’s Navigating Nigeria 2027 study points to the breadth of this multiplatform environment and says political narratives can develop in closed, encrypted groups and forwarded messages and regional-language communities before reaching mainstream media or open social platforms. That creates a monitoring challenge for organizations relying primarily on public channels to identify and respond to emerging narratives.
African Currents spoke with Nigerian strategic communications, public relations, and public affairs adviser Oti Egwu, who warned that the 2027 election could become Nigeria’s first “deepfake election,” with AI-generated disinformation circulating virally across social media channels and local-language networks. He called for stronger detection and verification systems ahead of the election.
"The threat isn't that fakes exist or don't exist. It is the time between when a lie or disinformation starts to spread and the moment you discover it. The gap used to be hours in the past. But with AI and encrypted networks, it has been cut down to minutes [...]. AI could harm Nigeria's next election [...]. If you find information in a source that is not verifiable, do not share. The first thing you must do is go to the credible sources [...]. My advise/recommendation is you have to verify before you share [...] in a world full of information, where does the truth lie? It's a rather fundamental question, and it is one that should make us think twice as to how well we have to manage information, especially in the aspect of distributing information [...] when Nigeria bleeds, Africa bleeds, as it is. So, whatever happens in Nigeria is certain to happen anywhere else in Africa [...]. The same visibility that makes 2027 a test also makes it an opportunity. So, we would have that opportunity to establish early and continentally that African democracies can build their own defenses on their own times. But the countries that treat these as a wake-up call rather than a doomsday event will set the standard for the rest to follow. Africa will watch the prepared," Egwu said.
Listen to the full interview on the African Currents podcast, presented by Sputnik Africa.
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Subscribe to and explore all the episodes of African Currents.
