The Presidency has raised concerns over what it described as coordinated attempts to use religion and manipulated digital content to create political tension ahead of the 2027 elections. This was raised in a post issued on Thursday on its official X handle signed by the Office of Digital Engagement and Strategy, State House.
The Presidency said it had observed the circulation of manipulated and deepfake videos on social media and WhatsApp groups aimed at portraying President Bola Tinubu negatively and inciting religious division. It flagged a manipulated video overlaid with fake audio and false attributions, and another deepfake video falsely framed around a religious leader in a calculated attempt to provoke Muslims against the President.
The statement said as the political season approaches, desperate actors will continue to manufacture outrage, distort faith, manipulate context, spread falsehoods, and push dangerous emotional bait across social media platforms in an attempt to divide Nigerians for political gain.
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The Presidency urged Nigerians to verify information before sharing content online and to reject attempts to create division through misinformation, asking citizens to pause and ask who benefits from setting citizens of different faiths against one another. The Presidency also warned that those spreading false and inflammatory digital content could face investigation under cybercrime and public safety laws.
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