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 on Saturday.
In a statement on Saturday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the APC campaign council said it had uncovered a “well-orchestrated, devious plan” to misinform the public through fake news operations, artificial intelligence, deepfake videos and counterfeit documents.
According to the council, the plot began in the last 24 hours with the release of a picture of a security vehicle on routine patrol near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis, which was twisted to claim that security agents were deployed to protect APC billboards.
Alake alleged that the story was planted in a national newspaper known for its anti-government stance, and that Atiku Abubakar shared it on his official social media handles in a coordinated manner.
He said the second part of the plot was the circulation of a fake letter purportedly written by Governor Uba Sani to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, claiming the Kaduna State Government released N2.3 trillion 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 said.
He noted that the N2.3 trillion being circulated is more than Kaduna State’s annual budget for three years, adding that the combined budgets for 2024 (N458.271 billion), 2025 (N790.439 billion), and 2026 (N985.9 billion) are still less than N2.3 trillion.
The APC campaign council further alleged that the ADC and Atiku’s camp have perfected plans to circulate old, doctored and deepfake videos during the rally to show purported resentment by the people.
“We hereby use this opportunity to alert the general public about this malicious and ignoble plan,” Alake 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,” he added.
He urged Nigerians to be vigilant and reject what he described as machinations by the opposition.
