Experts explain necessity of blockchain, AI in electoral process

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to help in identifying discrepancies in election result records ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Chairman of INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this yesterday in Ottawa, Canada, while addressing the Global Conference on Responsible AI and Elections.

Meanwhile, technology experts have stressed the importance of deploying blockchain and AI in the country’s electoral processes.

Speaking yesterday in Lagos, at the Nigeria e-Government Summit, with the theme, ‘Mainstreaming Technologies in Nigeria Election Management’, President of the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN), Dr Emmanuel Ayoola, outlined a strategic technological roadmap to transition the country’s voting system from basic electronic viewing portals to an immutable, fully auditable framework.

Amupitan said the initiative formed part of INEC’s broader efforts to institutionalise the responsible use of AI in electoral administration and improve the credibility and efficiency of the electoral process.

He explained that the commission had introduced an intelligent results management process designed to assist election officials in detecting discrepancies in election outcomes.

The INEC chairman, however, stressed that the use of AI would remain subject to human oversight, insisting that technology must complement, rather than replace, electoral institutions and officials.

“AI must strengthen electoral integrity, improve public service, and always remain under human control,” he said.

Amupitan said the increasing influence of algorithms and data systems on democratic processes made it necessary for election management bodies to establish strong institutional safeguards around the deployment of emerging technologies.

According to him, Nigeria’s experience with electoral technology has shown the importance of using innovation to reduce human error and minimise opportunities for manual interference.

He cited the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and the Automated Biometrics Identification System (ABIS) as some of the technologies already adopted by the commission.

The scale of Nigeria’s electoral operations, he added, made technology indispensable, noting that the country has more than 93 million registered voters, approximately 180,000 polling units and about 185,000 BVAS devices, with elections conducted simultaneously across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He said INEC was, therefore, approaching AI adoption as an institutional reform rather than merely an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project.

AYOOLA, who spoke as a lead presenter on the sub-theme, ‘Beyond BVAS’, stated that combining blockchain technology and AI would provide the clearest path towards resolving trust deficits, data transmission vulnerabilities, and judicial evidentiary hurdles in Nigeria’s elections.

The event was organised by the past president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Lanre Ajayi.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s technological journey, Ayoola highlighted that while the introduction of the Smart Card Reader (SCR) in 2015, alongside the BVAS and the IReV between 2019 and 2023, marked significant progress, systemic bottlenecks persist.

According to him, independent observers widely agree that BVAS effectively executed its primary task of voter accreditation during the 2023 elections. However, he said severe issues arose during the real-time transmission of over 500,000 result sheets to IReV, a volume that overwhelmed existing network infrastructure, leading to transmission delays and a subsequent breakdown of public trust.

“What failed in 2023 was primarily a transmission and logistics issue under unprecedented volume, exacerbated by connectivity gaps and damaged equipment,” Ayoola explained. “This is a far narrower, more solvable problem than a total rebuild of our electoral architecture. We do not need to start from scratch; we must fix the specific points of failure.”

To ensure a seamless transition before the 2027 general elections, the ITAN President proposed five concrete recommendations, which are Blockchain Integration, AI Guardrails, Phased Off-Cycle Pilots, Legislative Amendments, and Data Protection Compliance.

On his part, President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), James Agada, advised government to shift focus from merely deploying technology for election conduct to ensuring that digital election results could serve as admissible, tamper-proof evidence in court.

Acknowledging positive strides in the Electoral Act 2026, such as provisions for a national electronic register, he challenged technology developers, lawmakers and election managers to ensure future electoral systems preserve verifiable digital evidence that stands up to legal scrutiny.