ADC Demands Evidence as APC Accuses Atiku of Deepfake Plot
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to provide evidence linking former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the opposition party to an alleged plan to use deepfake videos and fabricated documents to discredit the ruling party’s presidential campaign rally in Kaduna.
Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, made the demand in a statement on Saturday, October 24, 2026, while responding to allegations by the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
The APC, through its spokesperson, Dele Alake, had accused Atiku and the ADC of attempting to manipulate public opinion ahead of the campaign flag-off through artificial intelligence-generated content, misleading reports and counterfeit documents.
But Shaibu said the ruling party had not provided evidence connecting the former vice president or the ADC to the alleged operation.
He challenged Alake to produce evidence identifying those responsible, including relevant names, dates and forensic findings.
The dispute centres partly on a photograph showing a security vehicle near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis.
The APC alleged that the photograph was misrepresented to suggest that security personnel had been deployed specifically to protect the party’s campaign billboards. The council maintained that the vehicle was on routine patrol.
Shaibu questioned that explanation, arguing that the circumstances surrounding the vehicle’s presence near the billboard warranted scrutiny.
The APC also raised concerns about 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 state government released ₦2.3 trillion to host the campaign rally.
The APC dismissed the purported expenditure as implausible, citing Kaduna State’s budgets for 2024, 2025 and 2026. However, the authenticity of the letter and the circumstances surrounding its circulation have not been independently established from the material examined.
Beyond the allegations of disinformation, Shaibu criticised President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, arguing that rising living costs and declining purchasing power were contributing to public dissatisfaction with the government.
He cited petrol and diesel prices, food costs and household financial pressures as issues the ruling party should address rather than blaming the opposition for negative publicity.
The ADC campaign official also raised concerns about reports that some APC supporters travelling to Kaduna had been left sleeping outdoors.
He further referred to reports of an accident involving supporters travelling from Sokoto and Abuja to attend the rally, while acknowledging that details remained unconfirmed.
The reported accident and the circumstances surrounding the supporters’ travel could not be independently verified from the sources examined.
The APC’s accusation against Atiku and the ADC remains unproven by the evidence available for this report. The ADC has demanded that the ruling party substantiate its claims, including any alleged links between the opposition and the disputed digital content or documents.
