In a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday, described as “utter rubbish” an audio clip circulating on social media.
In the audio clip, Atiku, alongside his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, and the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal are heard planning to scuttle the forthcoming election.
The statement said in part,
“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 drive, 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 presidential and House of Assembly elections take place in less than 24 hours.