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 fake news campaign to discredit the party’s presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna State.

The council alleged that the opposition planned to deploy artificial intelligence-generated content, deepfake videos, doctored footage and counterfeit documents to portray the APC rally, President Bola Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani and party leaders in a negative light.

In a statement issued on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and signed by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the council claimed that the alleged disinformation campaign had begun circulating online ahead of the rally.

It cited two incidents in the preceding 24 hours, including the circulation of a photograph of a security vehicle stationed at a junction near an APC campaign billboard in Kaduna metropolis.

According to the council, the image was presented in a misleading manner, with claims that security operatives had been deployed to protect APC billboards in the state.

The council further alleged that a national newspaper published a distorted account of the incident, which Atiku subsequently shared on his official social media platforms.

Describing the development as a coordinated attempt to manipulate public opinion, the APC campaign council accused the former vice-president and the ADC of amplifying what it called false narratives to generate negative publicity for the ruling party.

The council also raised the alarm over a purported letter allegedly written by Governor Uba Sani to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari.

The purported letter claimed that the Kaduna State Government had released N2.3 trillion to host the APC campaign rally.

Dismissing the document as fake, the council questioned the plausibility of the alleged expenditure, arguing that the amount was far beyond the state’s annual budget.

It cited Kaduna State’s budgets of N458.271 billion for 2024, N790.439 billion for 2025 and N985.9 billion for 2026, insisting that their combined value remained below N2.3 trillion.

The council described the alleged expenditure claim as baseless and accused those circulating it of deliberately misleading Nigerians about the cost of hosting the rally.

It further alleged that old footage, doctored videos and deepfake materials would be circulated as the rally progressed to create the impression that residents were opposed to the APC and its leaders.

The campaign council urged Nigerians to exercise caution when consuming political content on social media and to be wary of materials whose authenticity could not be independently verified.

It also launched a political attack on Atiku and the ADC, describing the alleged activities as evidence of desperation to gain power.

The statement read in part: “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 council called on Nigerians to remain vigilant and reject what it described as attempts to undermine the APC’s campaign through misinformation.

The allegations were made by the APC Presidential Campaign Council. The statement did not include a response from Atiku Abubakar or the ADC to the accusations.