Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The Presidency has threatened legal action against social media commentator Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), over the circulation of an audio recording allegedly generated with artificial intelligence and falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.
The controversy erupted after a video surfaced online in which VDM played an audio clip purportedly featuring Tinubu making controversial remarks about insecurity in the South-East, Nigeria’s borrowing from the World Bank and the 2027 presidential election.
Reacting on Wednesday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, condemned the development and warned that the social media activist could face legal consequences for disseminating false content.
“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu. This is a clear case of an egregious abuse of the social media platform,” Onanuga wrote in a post on X.
The disputed audio, believed to have been created using AI voice-cloning technology, featured a voice resembling Tinubu allegedly claiming that insecurity in the South-East was intentional, that he had asked former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to step down for him ahead of the 2023 election, and that World Bank loans were being used to finance political activities.
Before playing the clip in his video, VDM told his followers, “You people watch it, see this next video I’m about to play. After you people watch it, we’ll come decide whether na for shrine them cook una mind. All the people wey wan support Bola Ahmed Tinubu for 2027, you go come know whether they don cook your mind.”
After the audio ended, he added, “This man does not have anything to offer. Come 2027, any other option is welcome, but for me, myself and I, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cannot offer us anything anymore. So he should go.”
The Presidency’s reaction followed a separate post by an X user identified as Aneex, who accused VDM of spreading propaganda and attempting to manipulate public sentiment with the controversial clip.
However, checks later indicated that the audio in question did not appear among the videos directly uploaded on VDM’s official platforms, raising further questions about the source and circulation of the recording.
The latest dispute comes amid growing concern over the increasing use of artificial intelligence to create deceptive political content ahead of the 2027 elections.
Recently, the Coalition for Ethical Technology and Democratic Integrity urged the Federal Government to criminalise AI-generated blackmail and deepfake propaganda, warning that manipulated digital content could undermine public trust and threaten Nigeria’s democratic process.
The Federal Government had also earlier cautioned Nigerians against a fake investment advertisement circulating online that used AI-generated visuals of Tinubu to promote an alleged Ponzi scheme.
Under Nigeria’s Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, the creation and dissemination of false digital communications intended to damage reputations or mislead the public attract criminal penalties, including imprisonment.
