The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a suspect identified as Ifechukwu Dennis, alleged to be the originator of an AI-generated voice note falsely attributed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a case that has fuelled widespread online controversy over digital misinformation.
Police authorities say the suspect was taken into custody following investigations into the viral audio clip that circulated on social media on May 27, 2026, and was widely misrepresented as a leaked recording of the President.
The voice note, which reportedly mimicked President Tinubu’s speech patterns using artificial intelligence voice-cloning technology, sparked heated reactions online and triggered a public dispute involving social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
The controversy escalated after claims emerged that the audio had been shared or amplified through a video linked to VeryDarkMan, prompting calls from presidential aides for accountability over the spread of what they described as false and misleading content.
However, fact-check reports indicate that the viral clip did not originate from the President or any official government source. Instead, it appears to have been created using AI-generated voice synthesis and subsequently circulated in a way that made attribution unclear or misleading.
As of the time of filing this report, police have not publicly released detailed charges against the suspect, but investigations are ongoing into the creation and dissemination of the audio, as well as potential collaborators involved in its spread.
The case highlights growing concerns in Nigeria over the misuse of artificial intelligence tools to generate realistic but false audio and video content, raising questions about regulation, digital literacy, and the rapid spread of misinformation on social media platforms.
Authorities have urged the public to exercise caution when engaging with unverified content online, especially materials purporting to originate from high-profile political figures.