The African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council has rejected the All Progressives Congress’s claim that Atiku Abubakar and the ADC plotted to discredit the APC’s campaign flag-off in Kaduna, insisting the ruling party is using accusations to distract from its economic record.
In a statement on Saturday, the ADC’s Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, described the APC’s response as a “desperate and hollow smokescreen” from a campaign he said was afraid of its own record.
The ADC was reacting to a “Fake News Alert” issued earlier the same day by the APC Presidential Campaign Council’s spokesperson, Dele Alake.
Alake alleged that Atiku and the ADC had planned to mislead the public using artificial intelligence, deepfake videos and forged documents ahead of the Kaduna rally.
According to the APC, the plot began with the release of a photo of a security vehicle on what it called a routine patrol near a campaign billboard in Kaduna.
It claimed the ADC twisted the image to suggest security agents were guarding APC billboards, planted the story in a newspaper it described as hostile to the party, and had Atiku amplify it on his social media accounts.
The APC further alleged that a fake letter, purportedly from Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani to APC campaign Director-General Abdulaziz Yari, was circulated online claiming that N2.3 trillion had been released to host the rally.
Alake argued the figure was absurd, noting that Kaduna’s budgets for 2024 (N458.271 billion), 2025 (N790.439 billion) and 2026 (N985.9 billion) combined still fall short of N2.3 trillion.
He also warned that old and doctored videos would be circulated during the rally to suggest public resentment.
Shaibu said the APC had offered no proof linking Atiku or the ADC to the letter or to any fabricated video.
He challenged Alake to produce names, dates and forensic findings, saying that until then the alert was nothing more than a political stunt.
The ADC argued that the APC’s record needs no conspiracy to be exposed. Shaibu pointed to petrol selling at about N1,400 a litre, diesel above N2,000 and food inflation close to 20 per cent.
He also cited a World Bank estimate, as reported by Reuters, indicating that more than half of Nigerians lived in poverty last year.
On the security vehicle, Shaibu said Nigerians were entitled to ask why a campaign billboard would need protection.
He added that the APC could not wave away reports of supporters transported from distant states and left sleeping on the streets of Kaduna.
He also referred to reports of an accident involving APC supporters travelling to the rally from Sokoto and Abuja.
He stressed that details were unconfirmed but called on the APC to account urgently for the passengers’ safety.
In his words, forcing citizens to endure long, risky journeys and sleep outdoors to create good rally pictures amounts to political exploitation rather than leadership.
Shaibu further suggested that the APC’s decision to campaign in only 12 states was linked to the cost and difficulty of moving the same supporters from one rally to another over poor roads.
He said a campaign that must bring in its audience cannot present that crowd as spontaneous nationwide backing.
The ADC spokesman said buses can be hired and billboards erected, but consent cannot be bought.
He maintained that Nigerians were already turning away from the APC because of high prices, shrinking incomes and unfulfilled promises, and that Alake’s attack on Atiku would not lower the cost of food.
Shaibu predicted that voters would reject the APC at the polls, adding that no amount of propaganda could spare the party from the verdict he said it had earned.
He closed with the ADC’s campaign line: “Bola made life expensive; Atiku will make Nigeria affordable again.”
