The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis, the man accused of creating and circulating an AI-generated voice note falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.
The arrest was announced on Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, via his official X account.
According to Onanuga, the suspect was arrested by the Inspector-General of Police’s special team for allegedly creating the fake audio and presenting it as the President’s voice.
The controversy began on May 27, 2026, when a manipulated video linked to social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), went viral online.
In the clip, an AI-generated voice resembling President Tinubu made several controversial claims. The voice alleged that insecurity in the South-East was deliberate, claimed Tinubu pressured Peter Obi to step down before the 2023 presidential election, and suggested he was unconcerned about Nigerians’ hardship.
However, investigations by several media organisations later found that VDM neither created nor shared the fake audio.
Reports showed that an unidentified individual extracted footage from VDM’s original Instagram video and added the AI-generated voice before circulating the altered version online.
Despite the findings, the Presidency initially called for VDM’s prosecution. Onanuga described the incident as a serious abuse of social media, a position that drew criticism after fact-checkers confirmed that the original video contained none of the fabricated statements.
Authorities have yet to disclose further details about Dennis’ arrest or the charges that may be brought against him.
