The Kano state governor Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf says Artificial Intelligence AI has tremendous potential to transform governance, enhance public services, and reform election processes in Nigeria.
Governor Abba stated this at the 5th Kano Social Influencers Summit KANSIS Organized by the Center for Information Technology and Development CITAD.
Represented by his special Assistant on State Matters Usman Bala, explained that, Artificial Intelligence AI has the capacity to streamline electoral processes, minimize human error, and enhance transparency.
“Giving the experiences of Nigeria’s 2023 general elections which witnessed the exploitation of vulnerable youths, electoral violence, and the corruption of electoral officials”
He noted that the emergence of AI provides a promising opportunity to address many of the systemic problems that have historically plagued Nigeria’s election process.
While expressing the commitment of Kano state in harnessing digital solutions to improve governance, governor Abba warned against the misuse of the technology for greater impact.
“We must tread cautiously, ensuring that AI is implemented responsibly and ethically in elections and governance.”
He encouraged the social media users to use their influence to promote a responsible use of AI in governance.
The Executive Director, Center for Information Technology and Development CITAD Engineer Yunusa Ya’u emphasized that, the summit aims to examine the impact and leverage the potentials of the AI technology.
“We just had a General election last year and we got a lot of questions and we think with AI a lot of those questions will be answered.
“There are already some elections for instance in the next two days the governorship election in Edo and the following month in Ondo. Given this context of elections and the fact that AI has become something that everybody is talking about, we need to push to the National space to generate discussion and debate so that Nigeria can leverage the potentials that AI has on our elections and the system.”
Speaking on behalf of McArthur Foundation Dr. Amina Salihu allayed the fears that, AI could take over people’s jobs, urging social influencers to use AI ethically for the good of the people.
Other speakers made contributions physically and virtually on the positive impacts of AI as some social influencers pledged positive use of platforms.
The summit with the theme: “Artificial Intelligence in Election and Governance: Balancing the Potentials for Enhancing Processes with the Risks of Digital Surveillance and Misrepresentation”, brought together social influencers from across Nigeria.