The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, of plotting to discredit its presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna today.
The council, in a statement on Saturday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, described the alleged plot as a well-orchestrated plan to misinform the public through fake news, artificial intelligence, deepfake videos and counterfeit documents.
According to the statement, the plan was aimed at discrediting the APC rally in Kaduna, President Bola Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani and leaders of the party.
Alake said the tactics had been deployed in the last 24 hours, starting with what he called the mischievous release of a picture of a security vehicle on routine patrol stationed at a junction near one of APC’s campaign billboards in Kaduna metropolis.
He said Atiku and the ADC propaganda machinery twisted the narrative, claiming the security agents were deployed to protect APC billboards, and planted the story in a national newspaper known for its anti-government and anti-APC editorial stance.
“Immediately after the newspaper published the fake, distorted story, Atiku Abubakar, in a coordinated manner, latched onto it and shared it on his official social media handles to generate traffic and trends,” the statement said.
The campaign council also alleged that Atiku and ADC agents released a fake letter online purportedly written by Governor Uba Sani and addressed to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, on the release of N2.3 trillion by the Kaduna State Government to host the APC 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. How much is the entire annual revenue of Kaduna State, or any state, for that matter, that a state would spend N2.3 trillion to host a rally?” Alake queried.
He noted that the alleged N2.3 trillion is more than Kaduna State’s annual budget for three years.
“For context, the combined Kaduna State budgets for 2024 (N458.271 billion), 2025 (N790.439 billion), and 2026 (N985.9 billion) are still less than N2.3 trillion,” he said.
The council said it uncovered plans by the ADC and Atiku’s camp to circulate old, doctored and deepfake videos as the rally gets underway to show purported resentment by the people.
“We hereby use this opportunity to alert the general public about this malicious and ignoble plan,” the statement said.
“It is a fact that Atiku Abubakar and the ADC, his special-purpose vehicle, are incapable of winning any election. They will pull any strings, no matter how despicable and atrocious, to stay afloat in their desperate bid to grab power at all costs.
“We urge Nigerians to be vigilant and reject their machinations.”
