The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has asked Nigerians to ignore a “fake audio clip” circulating on social media.
In the clip, Atiku purportedly revealed plans by himself, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State to rig the February 25 presidential election.
Reacting, the former Vice President, in a statement issued on Friday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the audio is fake.
“We warned last week that as the election approaches, there will be a spike in the rate of propaganda on social media. With barely 24 hours to the poll, we have witnessed propaganda from not just the All Progressives Congress but the Labour Party as well.
“In this latest drivel, a montage of speeches delivered by Atiku, Tambuwal, and Okowa since last year were manipulated and pieced together to give an impression that they were discussing plans to rig Saturday’s election. In this age of artificial intelligence technology, even dead people can be portrayed as delivering speeches. This is nothing new.
“For the record, Atiku has run in two presidential elections and has never been indicted or prosecuted for election violence or vote buying.
“But some people think they can sell a narrative of Atiku manipulating this election. This is indeed the height of desperation, the last kick of a dying horse. The APC and the Labour Party must note that elections are not won on social media but at the polling units,” the statement said.
