Nigeria Enters 2027 Election Cycle Unprepared for AI Misinformation, Report Warns

Concern Without Caution

The report captures a striking contradiction: most Nigerians worry AI will amplify political falsehoods, yet they continue to treat social media as their main news source. According to the findings, 52.1% of respondents named platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, X and TikTok as their primary source of political information, with WhatsApp used by an estimated 95.1% of Nigerian internet users.

That reliance on WhatsApp poses a particular challenge. Because the platform's messages are end-to-end encrypted, AI-generated content circulating in private chats and groups cannot be detected or moderated, allowing false claims to spread before fact-checkers can respond.

While roughly 53.3% of respondents said they cross-check political claims against other outlets and 20.9% search online for confirmation, about 12% admitted they do not verify information before accepting or sharing it — a share that, at national scale, could represent millions of voters.

SBM highlighted what it called the "Southeast Paradox." The region recorded a 42.7% non-verification rate but was the least concerned about AI misinformation, with only 38.9% expressing worry, even though 82.5% there rely on social media as their primary news source. The report described this as an almost uninterrupted pipeline from synthetic content to widespread belief.

Institutions Lagging Behind

The report argues Nigeria's institutions are not yet equipped for an AI-shaped election. As TechCabal reported, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) established an internal unit in May 2025 to study how AI could improve the electoral process, but the unit has yet to launch major programmes with polls roughly six months away.

Researchers also flagged a growing language gap. Generative tools can now produce convincing content in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Pidgin English and numerous minority languages, while fact-checkers and INEC's monitoring capacity remain largely English-based. The report framed this as a vacuum rather than a mere gap.

What Comes Next

SBM noted that researchers have found little evidence AI-generated content alone changes votes, but warned it can erode trust and make genuine evidence easier to dismiss as fake. Civic groups such as Dubawa and the Nigeria Fact-Checkers' Coalition already operate, but the report urged that their efforts be scaled across regions and integrated with AI-detection tools before 2027.

With campaigns set to intensify, the report concluded that the window for regulators and technology companies to agree on how synthetic political content should be identified is narrowing fast.

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