By | Goodluck E. Adubazi, Abuja
The Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of allegedly orchestrating a disinformation campaign to discredit the APC presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna.
Alake, in a statement issued on Saturday, October 24, 2026, alleged that Atiku and the ADC planned to manipulate public opinion through fake news, artificial intelligence-generated content, deepfake videos and counterfeit documents.
He claimed that the alleged operation was designed to discredit President Bola Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, and other APC leaders ahead of and during the campaign rally.
According to Alake, 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 accused Atiku and the ADC of twisting the incident to suggest that security personnel had been deployed to protect APC billboards, adding that the narrative was subsequently amplified on social media.
Alake further alleged that another document circulated online, purportedly written by Governor Uba Sani to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, claimed that the Kaduna State Government released ₦2.3 trillion to host the rally.
Describing the allegation as baseless, the APC campaign spokesperson questioned how Kaduna State could spend such an amount on a political rally when its combined budgets for 2024, 2025 and 2026 amounted to less than ₦2.3 trillion.
He cited the state’s budgets as ₦458.271 billion for 2024, ₦790.439 billion for 2025 and ₦985.9 billion for 2026.
Alake also alleged that further attempts could be made to circulate old, doctored or deepfake videos during the rally to create the impression that residents were opposed to the APC campaign.
He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and reject what he described as attempts to mislead the public and undermine the party’s campaign activities.
The APC spokesperson also criticised Atiku and the ADC, alleging that they were prepared to deploy any means necessary in their bid to gain political power.
However, the allegations were contained in a statement by the APC Presidential Campaign Council and were not independently verified in the statement.
Alake signed the statement in his capacity as spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council on October 24, 2026.
