The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of allegedly orchestrating a disinformation campaign to undermine President Bola Tinubu’s presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna.
The allegation was made on Saturday by Dele Alake, spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, who claimed that the opposition planned to circulate fake news, manipulated photographs, deepfake videos and forged documents to discredit the rally and the ruling party’s leadership.
The APC presidential campaign flag-off is scheduled to hold in Kaduna on October 24 as the party begins its campaign activities ahead of the 2027 general election.
Alake said the alleged disinformation campaign began with the circulation of a photograph showing a security vehicle on routine patrol near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis.
He alleged that the photograph was misrepresented to suggest that security personnel had been deployed to protect the party’s billboards, adding that Atiku subsequently shared a report on the incident on his social media accounts.
The APC spokesperson also accused the opposition of circulating a purported letter allegedly written by Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari.
The document reportedly claimed that the Kaduna State Government released ₦2.3 trillion to host the APC campaign rally.
Dismissing the claim, Alake argued that the amount was inconsistent with the state’s budgetary allocations for the past three years.
He cited Kaduna State’s budgets of ₦458.271 billion for 2024, ₦790.439 billion for 2025 and approximately ₦985.9 billion for 2026, arguing that their combined value was still below ₦2.3 trillion.
The Kaduna State Government has also reportedly disowned the purported letter, describing it as fake and denying that Governor Uba Sani authorised the document.
Alake further alleged that old footage, doctored videos and artificial intelligence-generated content could be circulated during the rally to create the impression that residents were opposed to the APC and its presidential candidate.
He urged Nigerians to scrutinise information circulating on social media and other platforms, warning against sharing unverified materials.
The APC spokesperson also criticised Atiku and the ADC, accusing them of attempting to undermine the ruling party’s campaign ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
However, the allegations that Atiku and the ADC coordinated the purported disinformation campaign have not been independently established. No response from Atiku or the ADC was included in the reports reviewed.
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