By Abdullahi Alhassan, Kaduna
A homegrown technology initiative has been credited with helping to curb the spread of false information during the just concluded Osun State Governorship Election held on Saturday, August 15, 2026.
The Nest Africa AI Innovation Lab said its newly launched AI-Powered Election Information Integrity Situation Room, AI-EIISR, was deployed for the first time to monitor and counter viral falsehoods in real time.
The project, run under the Lab’s Policy, Governance and Public Innovation portfolio, combines artificial intelligence tools with a team of trained human analysts to track, verify and debunk misleading election content.
This is contained in a statement signed by Ameerah Adamu Project lead Policy Govanance and public innovation associate
Twenty analysts and observers were stationed in the situation room throughout the voting and collation period. Their mandate was to flag suspicious posts on social media, cross-check them against official sources, and issue public verdicts quickly.
According to the Lab’s findings, the team reviewed a wide range of claims, from fabricated result sheets and AI-generated images to impersonation scams and premature declarations of victory.
One of the most circulated falsehoods was a graphic that credited the APC candidate with 45,456 votes and presented the figure as a final result. The Lab said the image was unofficial and misleading.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, remains the only constitutionally empowered body to collate and announce election results, the report stressed, warning voters not to rely on unverified tallies.
Analysts also flagged several images that showed clear signs of artificial intelligence manipulation. The pictures contained distorted text and mismatched details that did not match authentic photographs from polling units.
Another case involved a WhatsApp message impersonating a popular Afrobeats artist. The message promised a ₦100,000 election cash giveaway and directed recipients to a phishing link designed to steal bank details.
The scam message further urged users to forward it widely before authorities could respond, a tactic the Lab said was aimed at exploiting the urgency and excitement around election day.
The situation room also debunked a claim that the incumbent governor had secured a lead in 13 local government areas. At the time the claim went viral, voting and collation were still ongoing and no result sheets were available to support it.
Project lead Ameerah Adamu said the exercise revealed that election misinformation now spans a broad spectrum. It ranges from fake result graphics to financial fraud that borrows the credibility of public figures.
She added that speed alone is not enough. Analysts must also use precise language to distinguish between claims that are demonstrably false and AI-generated, and those that are simply unverified or premature.
By intervening quickly, the situation room helped narrow the window in which fabricated content could influence public perception and voter behavior, the Lab stated.
The deployment is the first real-world test of Nest Africa’s AI-Powered Public Information Integrity Platform, AI-PIP, which is designed to strengthen democratic resilience and public trust across Africa.
Looking ahead to Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections, the Lab said it plans to expand the network of trained analysts and field observers to provide nationwide coverage.
Central to that expansion, Adamu said, is youth agency. The Lab is training young Nigerians to verify claims, identify AI-generated deepfakes, and challenge false narratives in real time.
“Election information integrity is not a one-time effort, it is infrastructure,” Adamu stated. “Nest Africa AI Innovation Lab remains committed to building that infrastructure, powered by AI and led by Africa’s youth.”
