APC Accuses Atiku, ADC of Deepfake Plot to Discredit Tinubu’s Kaduna Rally

• The APC campaign council has accused Atiku Abubakar and the ADC of planning to circulate manipulated content against its Kaduna rally, while dismissing a purported ₦2.3 trillion funding letter.

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress of plotting to discredit its presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna through misinformation and manipulated videos.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the council’s spokesperson, Dele Alake, alleged that the opposition planned to deploy artificial intelligence-generated content and deepfakes targeting President Bola Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani and other APC leaders.

“We have uncovered a well-orchestrated, devious plan by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his party to discredit the APC presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna today (Saturday),” he said.

Alake accused the opposition of circulating misleading narratives to portray the rally negatively.

He cited a photograph showing a security vehicle near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis, saying a routine patrol had been misrepresented as the deployment of security personnel to protect campaign materials.

The council also rejected a purported letter from Governor Sani to its Director-General, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, claiming that the state government had released ₦2.3 trillion to host the rally.

“We are still at a loss as to how anyone can imagine and concoct this senseless and utterly baseless lie that defies logic and basic common sense,” Alake said.

To challenge the claim, he cited Kaduna’s budgets of ₦458.271 billion for 2024, ₦790.439 billion for 2025 and ₦985.9 billion for 2026, saying their combined value was below the alleged rally allocation.

Alake further alleged that old footage, doctored recordings and deepfake videos would be circulated during the event to create an impression of public resentment towards the APC.

“We hereby use this opportunity to alert the general public about this malicious and ignoble plan,” he added.

He urged Nigerians to scrutinise political content circulating online and reject attempts to influence public opinion through disinformation.

The supplied statement did not include a response from Atiku or the ADC. The allegations against them were not independently established in the report.