From Unfulfilled Manifestos to Machine-Generated Promises: AI as a Tool of Populist Politics in Nigeria’s 2027 Elections in view.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming political communication, creating new possibilities for the production, adaptation, personalisation and circulation of electoral messages. In Nigeria, this development emerges within a political environment already characterised by unfulfilled electoral promises, weak political institutions, public distrust and populist mobilisation. While electoral promises traditionally provide citizens with a basis for evaluating political leaders and demanding accountability, AI-generated political content introduces a new challenge by making it possible to produce and circulate promises that may not originate from candidates themselves. This study examines the transition from unfulfilled manifestos to machine-generated promises and the use of AI as a tool of populist politics in Nigeria’s 2027 elections. The study employed qualitative content analysis, relying on secondary data drawn from peer-reviewed journal articles, government and electoral documents, institutional reports, policy papers and credible media sources. Findings indicate that AI can strengthen populist communication by converting existing public grievances into rapidly produced, personalised and emotionally appealing electoral messages. The study further finds that AI-generated promises may stimulate political engagement while simultaneously creating an authenticity gap that complicates political accountability, governance and informed democratic choice. The study concludes that AI represents an emerging dimension of electoral politics in Nigeria and recommends stronger digital information-integrity mechanisms, authoritative political communication, civic media literacy and responsible use of AI to protect democratic accountability.