Something happened in Kaduna this weekend that should concern every Nigerian, no matter which political party you support. It started as a rally, a bright Saturday morning, with flags and supporters and all the optimism that a presidential campaign kickoff is supposed to bring. The All Progressives Congress, working with President Bola Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani, was ready to present its vision to the people. But before the first speaker could step up to the microphone, a quieter, darker operation was already underway. Through our own monitoring, we uncovered what can only be described as a well-orchestrated, devious plan by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his political vehicle, the African Democratic Congress, to discredit the entire event. This wasn’t just political opposition. It was a coordinated attack designed to flood the public with fake news, manipulated images, counterfeit documents, and even artificial intelligence-generated videos. Their goal was simple: to make the APC rally in Kaduna look like a disaster, to embarrass President Tinubu, to humiliate Governor Uba Sani, and to undermine the party’s leadership. They wanted to control the narrative before the rally even happened, and they were prepared to use every dirty trick in the digital book to do it.
The first tactic came disguised as a harmless news story. In the last 24 hours, a photograph began circulating online. It showed a security vehicle, a patrol van, parked at a junction near one of the APC campaign billboards in Kaduna metropolis. Anyone with a basic understanding of security operations would recognize this for what it was: routine patrol. Officers stationed at intersections, keeping an eye on things, doing their job. It happens every day, in every city, in every election cycle. But Atiku and the ADC propaganda machinery twisted that innocent image into something sinister. They claimed the security agents were there specifically to protect APC billboards, as if a billboard needed armed guards. It was laughable. But they didn’t stop there. They planted this distorted narrative in a national newspaper that is already known for its anti-government and anti-APC editorial stance. The story ran, the fake was given the shine of legitimacy, and then, like clockwork, Atiku himself latched onto it. He shared it across his official social media handles, generating traffic, generating outrage, and making sure the lie trended. It was a carefully choreographed sequence: plant the story, amplify the story, and hope the public doesn’t stop to ask a simple question. Why would a state government use security officers to guard billboards when those same officers are needed for real security threats? It makes no sense. But in the world of propaganda, sense doesn’t matter. Attention matters.
And then, just as the first story was gaining momentum, they released their second, even more absurd fabrication. A fake letter appeared online, supposedly written by Governor Uba Sani and addressed to the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari. The letter claimed that the Kaduna State Government had released a staggering N2.3 trillion to host the APC rally. Let us pause here and read that number again. N2.3 trillion. Not two hundred million. Not two billion. Two point three trillion naira. To host a rally. You don’t need to be an economist to understand how insane that is. You don’t need a degree in finance. You just need to know that the entire annual budget of Kaduna State, or almost any state in Nigeria, is nowhere near that figure. In fact, if you add up Kaduna State’s budgets for 2024, 2025, and 2026, the total is still less than N2.3 trillion. Let’s break it down: the 2024 budget was N458.271 billion, the 2025 budget was N790.439 billion, and the 2026 budget was N985.9 billion. Add all three years together, and you still don’t reach N2.3 trillion. So the claim is not just false; it defies basic arithmetic. It is the kind of lie that should insult the intelligence of every Nigerian who reads it. And yet, they circulated it anyway, knowing that many people would see the number, get angry, and share it without checking the facts. They were betting on your outrage. They were counting on your willingness to believe the worst about those in power. And they were hoping you wouldn’t stop to ask the most obvious question: how could any state government spend its entire combined budget for three years on a single political rally? The only answer is that they didn’t, because the letter was fake, the figures were invented, and the entire story was a deliberate act of disinformation.
But even as we speak, the plot is still unfolding. The security vehicle story and the fake letter are just the opening moves in a much larger chess game. Atiku Abubakar and the ADC have perfected plans to release old, doctored, and deepfake videos as the rally gets underway. They want to show what they will call “the real mood of the people.” They will find footage from some unrelated event, maybe years old, maybe from another country, maybe altered with artificial intelligence to make it look new. They will add fake captions, fake timestamps, and fake voices. They will try to make it appear as though Kaduna residents are rejecting President Tinubu, rejecting Governor Sani, rejecting the APC. They will use AI-generated images and counterfeit documents to create a sense of chaos and resentment. They will plant false news in mainstream platforms and social media, hoping that the lies will spread faster than the truth. This is not a rumor. We have seen the evidence. We know the plan. And we are alerting Nigerians right now, before the videos start circulating, so that when you see them, you will not be deceived. When you see a video claiming to show crowds booing the president or empty venues or angry citizens, you will ask yourself: Is this real? When was this recorded? Where did it come from? Who is sharing it? Because if it is being shared by Atiku or his media machine, the chances are overwhelming that it is manufactured. This is the new battlefield of Nigerian politics. It is no longer about speeches or manifestos or debates. It is about who can control what you see, what you believe, and what you feel. And the people behind this operation are prepared to lie without shame.
Why would they go to such lengths? The answer is simple: desperation. Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress know that they cannot win an election on their own merits. They know that the Nigerian people have seen their record, their history, and their inability to rally the kind of support needed for national victory. So instead of offering a compelling vision for the future, they have chosen to tear down everyone else. They will pull any string, no matter how despicable, no matter how atrocious, to stay afloat. They will lie, cheat, and manipulate because they believe that power is the ultimate prize and that nothing else matters. This is not a political movement. It is a political machine, driven not by principles but by ambition. They see elections as a game to be won by any means necessary. They see the public as pawns to be moved and manipulated. And they see the truth as an inconvenience to be eliminated. This is why we are speaking out. We are not merely defending a party or a candidate. We are defending the integrity of our democratic process. If we allow this behavior to go unchallenged, we are setting a terrible precedent. We are saying that it is okay to use fake news, deepfakes, and forged documents to influence elections. We are saying that it is okay to lie to millions of people as long as you get what you want. And that is not a Nigeria we can accept.
So let this serve as both a warning and an invitation. We urge every Nigerian to be vigilant, to be skeptical, and to be responsible. Before you share that shocking story, verify it. Before you get angry at that alarming video, check the source. Ask questions. Compare it with known facts. Talk to your friends and family. Do not allow yourselves to be weapons in a propaganda war designed to divide us. The people behind these schemes are betting that we are too lazy to check, too emotional to think, and too divided to come together. We must prove them wrong. We must stand firm in the knowledge that truth is not found in a fake letter or a doctored video. It is found in the reality we all share. And the reality is this: the APC rally in Kaduna happened, people came out, and the campaign moved forward despite the relentless attacks. The lies did not stop us. They will not stop us. Let them keep fabricating stories. Let them keep releasing fake videos. Let them keep twisting every innocent image into a scandal. Let them keep trying to convince Nigerians that up is down and that a routine security patrol is a criminal conspiracy. We will not be distracted. We will continue to present our vision, our record, and our commitment to progress. And we will leave the rest to the judgment of the people, who are far wiser than the manipulators give them credit for. In the end, the truth shall stand, and no amount of digital deception can change that.