The presidential campaign councils of President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have traded accusations over the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally in Kaduna, with the ruling party alleging a plot to spread fake news.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) hit back, describing the accusation as a diversion from the administration’s record, which it said the APC had failed to justify in almost four years in power.
The exchange followed a statement issued on Saturday by the APC Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson, Dele Alake, accusing Atiku and the ADC of planning to discredit the party’s campaign flag-off through alleged misinformation, artificial intelligence-generated content, deepfake videos and counterfeit documents.
Alake alleged that Atiku and the ADC had deployed propaganda to manipulate public opinion and discredit Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani and other APC leaders ahead of the rally.
According to him, the alleged campaign began with the circulation of a photograph showing a security vehicle on routine patrol near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis.
He claimed that Atiku and the ADC twisted the incident by alleging that security agents had been deployed to protect the party’s billboards.
However, THE WHISTLER Verify found that the picture in question did not originate from the ADC but from a publication by Daily Trust, which first reported that Tinubu campaign billboards were being protected from destruction by the police.
Two armed policemen could be seen standing in front of the billboard, rather than being on patrol, as the APC campaign council claimed.
Atiku only shared a screenshot of the publication.
Alake further alleged that the narrative was published by a national newspaper before Atiku shared it on his official social media accounts.
The APC spokesperson also accused the former vice-president and the ADC of circulating a purported letter allegedly written by Governor Uba Sani to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari.
The letter reportedly claimed that the Kaduna State Government had released N2.3 trillion to host the rally.
Alake dismissed the purported expenditure as false, arguing that the amount exceeded the state’s combined budgets for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
He cited the budgets for the three years as N458.271 billion, N790.439 billion and N985.9 billion, respectively, maintaining that their combined value remained below N2.3 trillion.
“We have uncovered a well-orchestrated, devious plan by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his party to discredit the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna today,” Alake said.
He also alleged that old, doctored and deepfake videos would be circulated during the rally to create the impression that residents were opposed to the APC.
The APC campaign council urged Nigerians to reject what it described as attempts to mislead the public, accusing Atiku and the ADC of resorting to such tactics in their bid to gain political power.
However, the ADC Presidential Campaign Council rejected the allegations, describing Alake’s statement as an attempt to divert attention from the Tinubu administration’s performance.
In a counter-statement, Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, challenged the APC to provide evidence linking Atiku or the party to the alleged fake letter and videos.
He said the APC spokesperson had made serious allegations without presenting evidence to establish the involvement of the former vice-president or the ADC.
“He accuses Atiku Abubakar and the ADC of a ‘devious plan,’ AI manipulation and deepfakes, yet offers no evidence linking them to the alleged letter or any fabricated video,” Shaibu said.
“Alake should produce the evidence: names, dates and forensic findings. Until then, his ‘fake news alert’ is an empty political stunt.”
Shaibu also criticised the administration’s economic policies, citing high petrol and diesel prices, food inflation and poverty as evidence of what he described as the government’s failures.
He argued that the economic difficulties faced by Nigerians could not be dismissed as fake news or concealed by political rallies and campaign statements.
The ADC spokesman also questioned the circumstances surrounding the security vehicle photographed near an APC billboard, asking why the billboard required protection.
Shaibu further alleged that some APC supporters had been brought into Kaduna from distant states and left sleeping outdoors ahead of the rally.
He also referred to reports of accidents involving APC supporters travelling from Sokoto and Abuja to attend the event, while acknowledging that details remained unconfirmed.
“The APC cares more about the appearance of a crowd than the safety and dignity of the people it transports,” he said.
The ADC campaign council also questioned Tinubu’s reported plan to campaign in 12 states, arguing that transporting supporters between locations would not necessarily demonstrate widespread public support.
Shaibu maintained that the administration’s economic record would remain a major issue in the election, regardless of the accusations exchanged by the two campaign councils.
“You can hire buses, assemble a crowd and plaster the streets with billboards. You cannot hire consent,” he said.
He added that the ADC expected Nigerians to reject the APC over what it described as rising living costs, declining purchasing power and unfulfilled promises.
