By Muhyideen Jimoh
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and his African Democratic Congress (ADC) of plotting to discredit its presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna.
The council alleged that the opposition planned to deploy fake news, artificial intelligence-generated content and deepfake videos to undermine the rally, President Bola Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani and APC leaders.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Dele Alake, spokesperson of the council, on Saturday, ahead of the campaign flag-off in Kaduna.
“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 alleged that the opposition had used misleading narratives and manipulated reports to influence public opinion and portray the APC rally negatively.
He cited the circulation of a photograph showing a security vehicle on routine patrol near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis.
According to him, the opposition allegedly misrepresents the photograph as evidence that security personnel are deployed to protect APC billboards.
He further alleged that Atiku shared a newspaper report on the incident through his official social media accounts to amplify the narrative.
The APC presidential campaign council spokesman also accused the opposition of circulating a purported letter from the Kaduna state governor to Sen. Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the campaign council.
The alleged letter claims that the state government has released N2.3 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,” he said.
He argued that the amount was inconsistent with the state’s annual budgets, noting that the Kaduna state budgets for 2024, 2025 and 2026 totalled less than N2.3 trillion.
He puts the budgets at N458.271 billion for 2024, N790.439 billion for 2025 and N985.9 billion for 2026.
Alake further alleged that the opposition planned to circulate old, doctored and deepfake videos during the rally to create a false impression of public resentment.
“We hereby use this opportunity to alert the general public about this malicious and ignoble plan,” he added.
He described Atiku and the ADC’s alleged actions as attempts to undermine the APC’s electoral prospects and urged Nigerians to reject what it called disinformation.
He also called on the public to remain vigilant against misleading content circulating online and in the media.
(NAN)
