The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described as “utter rubbish”, an audio clip circulating on social media where he purportedly revealed plans by himself, his running mate and Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, to rig the 2023 presidential election.

Atiku, in a statement issued on Friday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the audio clip in circulation is fake and a confirmation of his warning last week that the opposition would deepen its propaganda ahead of the election.

Shaibu stated: “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.

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“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.”

Atiku’s aide said the audio clip, which had been shared numerous times on WhatsApp, could be identified easily as a fake with the tone of the purported discussants.

“It is unfortunate that those seeking power will engage in outdated defeatist tactics. How can Tambuwal be referring to Atiku by his full name in a one-on-one private conversation? This is nonsensical, similar to the type of meaningless chatter about President Muhammadu Buhari being dead and replaced by one Jubril from Sudan,” the aide of the former Vice President added.

Shaibu further enjoined PDP supporters not to engage in the propaganda war, which he said has become the “style of both the APC and the Labour Party”, saying they should respond by voting massively for the PDP on Saturday.

Atiku’s aide, however, called on the police and other security agencies as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain fair and neutral in the 2023 general election.

He also urged them to go after those behind the audio tape “in line with Section 123(c) of the Electoral Act which provides that any person who before or during an election publishes any statement to the personal character or conduct of a candidate calculated to prejudice the chance of election of the candidate or to promote or procure the election of another candidate and such statement is false and was published without reasonable grounds for belief by the person publishing it that the statement is true, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months or both.”

The Star