APC Accuses Atiku, ADC of Plotting to Discredit Tinubu’s Campaign Flag-off in Kaduna With Fake News

•Keyamo: ADC presidential candidate jittery over losing north to Tinubu

•Tinubu’s panic cannot erase APC’s terrible record, says ADC

Chuks Okocha, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Chinedu Eze in Lagos

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has accused the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of orchestrating a fake news campaign to discredit its presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna yesterday.

Similarly, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, said Atiku was jittery over the flag-off of the presidential campaign of APC in Kaduna because he was afraid of losing the bulk votes which he was hoping to get from the north.

But is swift reaction, the ADC accused the APC of using allegations of fake news to divert attention from the economic hardship Nigerians were facing under President Bola Tinubu.

The APC-PCC in a statement issued statement by its spokesperson, Mr Dele Alake said it uncovered a “well-orchestrated, devious plan” to misinform the public through AI, deepfake videos and counterfeit documents targeted at the APC rally, President Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and APC leaders.

According to the council, the plot began with the circulation of a picture of a security vehicle on routine patrol near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis, which was twisted to claim security agents were deployed to protect APC billboards.

The council said the story was planted in a national newspaper and subsequently shared by Atiku on his social media handles.

Alake added that the second leg was the circulation online of a fake letter purportedly written by Sani to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, on the purported release of N2.3 trillion by the Kaduna State Government to host the rally.

He added: “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 queried.

Alake noted that the alleged N2.3 trillion was more than Kaduna State’s annual budget for three years combined, citing the state’s budgets for 2024 at N458.271 billion, 2025 at N790.439 billion and 2026 at N985.9 billion, which he said were still less than N2.3 trillion.

The council claimed Atiku and ADC had also perfected plans to circulate old, doctored and deepfake videos during the rally to show purported resentment by the people.

Alake said: “We hereby use this opportunity to alert the general public about this malicious and ignoble plan. 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.”

The APC Campaign Council urged Nigerians to be vigilant and reject what it described as machinations of the opposition.