Editors Demand Electoral Reforms, Warn Against AI Disinformation Ahead of 2027 Polls

ENUGU — The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has called for far-reaching constitutional and electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 general elections, while warning that artificial intelligence, deepfakes and coordinated disinformation could undermine public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.

The Guild made the call in a communiqué issued at the end of its 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC 2026), held in Enugu from September 24 to 26.

The conference, chaired by the Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, had as keynote speaker the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan.

Vice President Kashim Shettima participated virtually as Special Guest of Honour, while Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, served as Chief Host.

More than 500 editors, publishers and senior media practitioners from print, broadcast and digital platforms, alongside political, traditional, religious, academic, regulatory and development-sector leaders, attended the conference.

The conference was held under the theme, “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive.”

It examined the challenges confronting Nigeria’s democracy and electoral process, including voter apathy, electoral violence, judicial interventions, insecurity, misinformation and the growing use of artificial intelligence in political communication.

The editors expressed concern over declining public confidence in elections, noting that voter apathy could be linked to poor governance, electoral violence and intimidation, administrative shortcomings and concerns over the relationship between election results and subsequent judicial decisions.

The Guild called for electoral adjudication to be timely, transparent, predictable and impartial, while stressing that judicial independence must be respected and genuine electoral irregularities appropriately addressed.

On electoral reforms, the editors called for a review of the process for appointing the Chairman, National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as State Electoral Commissioners.

They also called for reforms to address excessive security deployment during elections, limitations on voters' ability to challenge electoral results and the growing role of electoral tribunals in determining political outcomes.

The Guild further called for a constitutional framework for independent candidacy and urged that electoral disputes be resolved within appropriate timelines before the swearing-in of declared winners.

It also proposed consideration of a constitutional threshold requiring a presidential candidate to secure up to 50 per cent of votes cast, with a run-off where no candidate reaches the threshold.

AI, deepfakes threaten electoral information

The conference identified generative artificial intelligence, deepfakes, voice cloning and automated networks as emerging threats to electoral information integrity.

According to the editors, synthetic content could be used to fabricate election results, clone the voices of public officials, forge documents and result sheets, and produce false reports purporting to originate from established media organisations.

The Guild said the danger extended beyond individual falsehoods, warning that the widespread circulation of fabricated content could erode public trust to the point where citizens would be unable to distinguish authentic information from manipulated material.

It urged news organisations to institutionalise fact-checking and verification systems and incorporate digital-verification, deepfake-detection and forensic tools into their editorial processes.

The editors also urged journalists and news organisations to refrain from publishing or amplifying unverified election results, stressing that the statutory responsibility for declaring election results rests with INEC.

The conference reaffirmed the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage (Revised 2022), jointly endorsed by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).

It urged newsrooms to adopt the code and train their journalists on its provisions ahead of the 2027 elections.

Media urged to remain independent

The Guild reaffirmed the media’s responsibility to provide accurate, verified and independent information while scrutinising governments, political parties and other centres of power.

It stressed that editorial neutrality means impartiality among legitimate political contenders and does not require journalists to remain silent in the face of verified wrongdoing.

The editors also cautioned against false equivalence between established facts and unverified claims, while calling for evidence-based reporting that neither exaggerates failures nor suppresses legitimate achievements.

The conference urged governments and political actors to guarantee equitable access to media platforms for both government and opposition voices while respecting editorial independence.

It further called on governments at all levels to remain transparent and accountable and to cooperate with the media in its legitimate watchdog role, including scrutiny of public programmes and expenditure.

The Guild described the safety of journalists as an essential component of election security, saying elections could not be fully transparent where journalists were threatened, attacked or obstructed in the course of their duties.

It therefore called on security agencies and political actors to protect journalists and enable them to carry out their constitutional and professional responsibilities without intimidation.

Editors back INEC readiness efforts

The conference acknowledged measures being undertaken by INEC to strengthen its institutional readiness for the 2027 elections, including technological and artificial intelligence initiatives, staff welfare measures and nationwide readiness assessments.

However, it stressed that all technology deployed in elections must remain subject to human oversight, transparency, accountability and legal verification.

The Guild specifically called for the integrity of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to be safeguarded and for the institutional independence of INEC to be protected.

It also urged the electoral commission to develop and implement an AI Governance Framework and strengthen technical partnerships in cybersecurity and electoral technology.

‘Inform, Don’t Amplify’ terrorism reporting

The editors also addressed the challenge of reporting terrorist attacks without inadvertently promoting terrorist propaganda.

They endorsed the principle, “Inform, Don’t Amplify,” urging journalists to report terrorist activities responsibly while avoiding unnecessary publicity for terrorist organisations.

The Guild advised newsrooms to clearly identify terrorist claims as claims until independently verified and to avoid reproducing propaganda, recruitment messages, slogans or graphic material except where there is compelling editorial justification.

It said acts of terrorism should be reported accurately without giving undue publicity or “oxygen” to terrorist groups or inadvertently encouraging further violence.

‘Pro-Nigeria, pro-Ballot and pro-People’

The conference reaffirmed that the media should remain “pro-Nigeria, pro-Ballot and pro-People”, rather than align itself with any political party.

The editors said the ballot and the press were bound by history, law and shared purpose as essential pillars of Nigeria’s democracy.

They called on the government, INEC, security agencies, judiciary, political parties, traditional and religious institutions, civil society organisations, technology platforms and the media to discharge their responsibilities with integrity, courage and diligence.

The Guild maintained that the credibility of Nigeria’s democracy ultimately depends on an electoral process in which citizens can make informed choices, vote freely and have confidence that their votes will be accurately counted and respected.

The conference expressed appreciation to the Government and people of Enugu State for their hospitality and support, as well as to speakers, presenters, panellists, sponsors and development partners who contributed to the success of the event.