Just days before the February 25 presidential election, a low quality video went viral appearing to show the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, announcing his withdrawal from the race and urging his supporters to vote for the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi. The video caused significant ripples in the final hours of campaigning, with some voters expressing confusion over whether their preferred candidate was still in the race.
Fact checkers who analyzed the footage discovered that it was a “cheapfake”—a video created by taking an old clip from the 2019 election cycle and poorly dubbing over the audio. The original footage was from an interview Atiku gave years prior, and the lip movements did not align with the words being spoken in the viral version. The PDP National Publicity Secretary immediately debunked the video, describing it as a “desperate act of sabotage” by opponents.
Atiku Abubakar remained on the ballot and contested the election until the end. This incident was one of the most prominent examples of visual misinformation used during the 2023 cycle to manipulate voter behavior. It served as a stark reminder of why voters should verify high profile “breaking news” through multiple reputable media outlets rather than social media clips.
