ABUJA, Nigeria — The Nigerian Presidency has called for the immediate prosecution of social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), for circulating a fabricated audio recording of President Bola Tinubu.
The controversial audio clip allegedly featured a voice mimicking the President making inflammatory statements regarding political survival, intentional neglect of South-East security, and deep state corruption to secure the 2027 elections.
Okay News reports that the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, issued a fierce rebuttal on Wednesday, describing the clip as a dangerous deepfake and an egregious abuse of social media networks.
“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu,” Onanuga stated, warning that the malicious manipulation of unverified digital media poses a direct threat to national security, public order, and democratic stability.
The presidency’s reaction followed a video broadcast by Otse, where he played the recording while questioning the intelligence of any citizen planning to support the administration’s re-election bid. In the audio, the simulated voice claimed the president would intentionally worsen insecurity in the South-East to punish political rivals and siphon World Bank loans to fund party operations.
While the administration has strongly demanded legal accountability, officials have not yet confirmed if the Ministry of Justice or federal law enforcement agencies have initiated formal criminal proceedings against the influencer.
