Kaduna Rally: APC and Atiku Camps Clash Over ‘Deepfake’ Plots and Transported Crowds

A war of words has broken out between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the APC’s presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna this Saturday.

The ruling party has alleged a massive “fake news” conspiracy involving Artificial Intelligence, while Atiku’s camp countered that the APC is in a “panic” over its economic record and is physically transporting crowds across state lines to manufacture political support.

APC Alleges N2.3 Trillion Disinformation Plot

In a statement issued early Saturday, Dele Alake, spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, claimed to have uncovered a “well-orchestrated, devious plan” by Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to discredit the Kaduna rally.

According to Alake, the opposition has deployed deepfake videos, counterfeit documents, and manipulated media to undermine President Bola Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani, and other party leaders.

Specifically, the APC flagged a document circulating online that purports to show Governor Uba Sani approving N2.3 trillion from the Kaduna State Government to host the campaign rally. Alake dismissed the document as a “senseless and utterly baseless lie”, pointing out that the figure exceeds the state’s entire budgets for 2024, 2025, and 2026 combined.

The ruling party also defended images of a security vehicle stationed near an APC billboard in Kaduna, characterizing it as a routine patrol rather than a dedicated security detail for campaign advertisements, as opposition critics had claimed.

“The ADC and Atiku’s hirelings have also perfected plans to circulate old, doctored, and deepfake videos as the rally gets underway later today to show purported resentment by the people,” Alake warned, urging the public to remain vigilant against “mindless propaganda”.

Opposition Responds: ‘Panic Cannot Sanitise Catastrophic Record’

Responding swiftly, Atiku Abubakar’s camp dismissed the APC’s allegations as a “desperate and hollow smokescreen” designed to deflect from the country’s harsh economic realities.

The opposition challenged Alake to produce forensic evidence, names, or dates linking them to the alleged fake letter or AI fabrications, calling the APC’s alert an “empty political stunt”.

“No conspiracy is needed to expose the APC. Its own failures are visible in every market, filling station and household,” the opposition statement read, pointing to petrol prices around ₦1,400 per litre, diesel topping ₦2,000, and high food inflation.

The dispute has also centred on the logistics of the Kaduna rally. Atiku’s camp accused the APC of exploiting vulnerable citizens by transporting supporters from states like Sokoto and Abuja to fill the venue. They cited unconfirmed reports of road accidents involving transported supporters and criticized the party for allegedly leaving attendees to sleep outdoors.

The opposition claimed that Tinubu’s strategy of campaigning in only 12 states is a logistical necessity driven by the need to bus the same audience from one venue to the next.

“Tinubu knows what happens if the crowd fails to reach the next destination: he may be left addressing empty seats,” Atiku’s camp stated. “A campaign that must transport its audience from state to state cannot pass off that audience as spontaneous nationwide support.”

As the Kaduna rally gets underway, the escalating rhetoric underscores the intense volatility surrounding the presidential campaign trails.