… national finale and innovation showcase will be in Lagos on December 16, 2026.
Rise Networks, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Meta, Google and Microsoft have launched a ₦10 million artificial intelligence (AI) hackathon ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, with the overall winner set to receive ₦4 million, the runner-up ₦2.5 million and the third-place winner ₦1.5 million.
The #AI4Elections Hackathon 2026–2027 will also offer four special prizes of ₦500,000 each for innovations in research and policy, electoral and civic inclusion, responsible AI and safety, and cybersecurity and resilience.
Applications which opened on October 22, will close on November 12, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. West African Time, according to a statement by the organisers.
The programme, which runs from October 2026 to February 2027, will include a national finale and innovation showcase in Lagos on December 16, 2026, followed by technical support for promising projects.
Organised by Rise Networks with support from the MacArthur Foundation and Luminate, the initiative seeks to mobilise Nigerian technology talent to develop practical AI solutions that can strengthen electoral integrity, improve access to reliable information and promote public confidence in democratic institutions.
The programme comes amid growing concerns about the influence of AI on information production and digital communication, particularly the spread of misinformation, AI-generated images and videos, privacy risks, cybersecurity threats and the potential manipulation of electoral information.
It also builds on Rise Networks’ Run-Am, an AI-powered misinformation detection and fact-checking application developed for Nigeria’s 2023 general elections.
Founder of Rise Networks, Dr Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, said the initiative was designed to encourage responsible technological innovation that protects the integrity of the electoral process rather than introduce technology without adequate consideration of its risks.
“Our ambition is not to introduce technology for technology’s sake. We are committed to promoting responsible AI innovation that respects the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process, protects citizens’ rights, and prioritises transparency, privacy, and human oversight. Innovation must strengthen our democracy, not create new vulnerabilities for it,” she said.
Akerele-Ogunsiji said Nigeria needed to prepare for the growing role of technology in elections by developing solutions that address the country’s electoral realities.
“We must begin to harness the power of artificial intelligence to strengthen electoral integrity, expand access to information, and build greater public confidence in our democratic institutions. The #AI4Elections Hackathon is an opportunity to bring our brightest minds together to develop solutions that respond to the realities of our electoral process,” she added.
The initiative will focus on five principal areas: AI and Trustworthy Electoral Information; Electoral Data Analysis, Operational Insights and Decision Support; Inclusive and Multilingual Electoral and Civic Technology; Electoral Cybersecurity and Resilience; and Election Observation and Citizen Accountability.
Climate resilience and environmental innovation will also be considered as a cross-cutting theme.
Participants are expected to develop technically credible solutions, including software applications, prototypes, AI tools and models, data-analysis systems, accessible civic technology, multilingual interfaces and open-source components.
Beyond the competition, the statement said the programme will operate through three connected components: the hackathon, an Elections Development Hub and an Electoral Community of Practice.
The hackathon will provide a platform for participants to design, develop and demonstrate their solutions. The Development Hub will support further testing and refinement of promising projects, while the Community of Practice will connect participants, mentors and institutions to sustain learning and collaboration beyond the competition.
The programme is open to Nigerians and people of Nigerian origin aged 18 and above. Eligible participants include university students, researchers, software developers, AI engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity professionals, technology entrepreneurs, civic-tech innovators, electoral experts, civil society practitioners, product designers, accessibility specialists and policy professionals.
Applicants may enter individually or in teams of up to four members. Team-matching support will be available to individuals seeking collaborators, while all submissions must be made in English.
The organisers said non-Nigerians, proposals limited to ideas, presentation decks or mock-ups, and projects that had already received grants, awards or recognition in previous competitions would not be eligible.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Dr Lawrence Bayode said the challenge was to harness AI’s potential without compromising the credibility of elections.
“The question before us is no longer whether AI has a role to play in an election, but how we can harness its potential without compromising the integrity, transparency and credibility of the electoral process,” he said.
Meta’s Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa, Sade Dada, said the company would work with INEC to promote reliable election information and address false claims, including misleading videos and images created using AI.
She highlighted Meta’s “Remove, Reduce and Inform” approach to harmful content and its GovGuide Nigeria AI chatbot, which provides government-related information in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Dada said AI-powered election tools must remain politically neutral and operate under human oversight, stressing the importance of trustworthy information to electoral credibility.
“Nigeria matters so much, enormously, to Meta,” she said.
“The 2027 elections matter far beyond Nigeria’s borders. If Nigeria gets it right on trustworthy information, the continent will learn from it and, indeed, the world,” she added.
Other speakers, including Lagos Business School Dean, Prof. Olayinka David-West, and legal practitioner Tsema Ede, said AI could help improve election management, including results management, but emphasised the need for transparency and public trust.
The organisers stressed that the hackathon was not intended to develop partisan campaign technology, influence voters’ political preferences or interfere with election administration.
Projects must comply with principles of non-partisanship, equal treatment, respect for electoral law, protection of personal information and human oversight. Unauthorised testing of live electoral systems or access to institutional infrastructure will be prohibited.
They also clarified that winning the competition would not automatically authorise a solution for operational use in an election. Any subsequent pilot or deployment involving electoral institutions would require the relevant legal, institutional, technical and security approvals.
The initiative brings together technology, electoral, academic and civil society partners, including the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Google, Microsoft, Meta, NITHUB at the University of Lagos, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), CLEEN Foundation, Tap Initiative for Citizens’ Development, the International Press Centre (IPC), Legal Naija, Ahmadu Bello University and the Federal University of Technology, Akure.
Rise Networks also invited technology companies, financial institutions, telecommunications operators, development partners, foundations, universities and research institutions to support the programme through sponsorship, infrastructure, mentorship, research and incubation.
It added that further information on eligibility and applications is available at ai4elections.risenetworks.org.
