From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of orchestrating a disinformation campaign to discredit President Bola Tinubu’s presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna.
The council alleged that the opposition planned to deploy artificial intelligence (AI), deepfake videos, doctored documents and misleading reports to portray the rally as unpopular and undermine Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani and other APC leaders.
In a statement issued yesterday, the council’s spokesperson, Dele Alake, cited two incidents involving a security vehicle reportedly seen near an APC campaign billboard and a purported letter alleging that the Kaduna State Government released ₦2.3 trillion to host the rally.
Alake alleged that the incidents were coordinated attempts to manipulate public opinion ahead of the campaign event.
According to him, a photograph of a security vehicle on routine patrol near an APC billboard was circulated with claims that security personnel had been deployed to protect the party’s campaign materials.
He further alleged that a national newspaper published the account, after which Atiku shared it on his official social media handles to amplify the narrative.
The APC campaign council also disputed the authenticity of a letter circulating online, purportedly written by Governor Uba Sani to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, claiming that the state government had released ₦2.3 trillion for the rally.
Alake dismissed the purported expenditure as implausible, arguing that the amount exceeded Kaduna State’s combined budgets for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
He put the state’s budgets for the three years at ₦458.271 billion, ₦790.439 billion and ₦985.9 billion, respectively, figures which, he said, were collectively below the alleged rally expenditure.
“The ₦2.3 trillion that Atiku and his hirelings are circulating online is more than Kaduna State’s annual budget for three years,” Alake said.
The spokesperson further alleged that old footage, doctored clips and deepfake videos would be circulated as the rally progressed to create the impression that residents were opposed to the APC campaign.
“We know these two scenarios are only a part of the grand plan,” he said, urging Nigerians to remain vigilant against what he described as attempts to mislead the public.
The council accused Atiku and the ADC of seeking to undermine the ruling party’s campaign through misinformation, but the statement did not provide independent evidence establishing that the former vice-president or the party directed the alleged operations.
Alake urged Nigerians to reject what he described as the opposition’s “machinations” as the APC commenced its presidential campaign activities in Kaduna.