The APC rally in Kaduna and the ominous sign of rejection

By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

Another thing that could be seen from the Great Kaduna Rejection of the APC is the party’s desperation and self-deceit as can be seen by the picture of jam-packed arena of people waving flags. An analysis of the picture indicates that what the APC people are showing as the picture of the attendance was indeed AI-generated. There is no end to the APC deception. How can a political party that is deceptive be trusted by the people?

To many observers, the turn-out of events at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna on Saturday, October 24, 2026 did not come as surprise in view of the prevailing situation in the country now. The rally, which the APC intended to use to showcase its political strength across the North clearly fell short of expectations despite the huge budget and strenuous effort put into trying to mobilize attendees from the whole Northern states. The organizers had planned to mobilize 10,000 party faithful from the 19 Northern States but the attendance was far from the target judging from the video footage of the event. Despite the alleged huge sum spent for the purpose of renting crowd, the stadium was sparse as there few turn-ups. As Tinubu spoke at the occasion, the chant of “Ba mu yi” (we don’t want you or we reject you) in Hausa, rent the air.

Indeed, the event was marked by very poor turn-out as there were very many visible empty seats at the about 10,000-capacity Ranchers Bees Stadium also known as Kaduna Township Stadium, the venue of the rally. It was as if the organizers sensed the failure of the event when a day to the flag off, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in a statement signed by Dele Alake, the spokesperson for the Council accused the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, of planning to discredit the ruling party’s presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna, alleging that the ADC has deployed what it described as “fake news operations,” including artificial intelligence-generated content, deep-fake videos and counterfeit documents, to create a negative impression of President Bola Tinubu’s campaign flag-off in Kaduna.

And truly, nobody is surprised about the accusation as everybody knows that the APC is always known for propaganda, spurious accusations and misleading news and false narratives. Everybody knows too that the APC has always been afraid and distraught about failure and they are ready to blame everybody including dead people for their failures. The APC people are a bunch of insincere persons that can never take responsibility for their actions and failures. Tinubu’s attitude of shifting responsibility for Nigeria’s current economic hardship to opposition leaders as contained in his speech at the rally instead of addressing the consequences of his administration’s ill-conceived policies, particularly fuel subsidy removal, which has intensified the pressure on households struggling with rising living costs, is the height of irresponsibility and lack of integrity.

Observers believe and rightly too that the APC disappointing Northwest zonal flag-off rally in Kaduna, signifies rejection of the ruling party by the Northern elements. In my earlier essay on the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, I had stated unequivocally that one of the reasons for Tinubu’s declaration that he would not go with the APC campaign team to every state of the federation was because he would not want to booed by the people (knowing that the rented crowd that he would encounter are not party members) having failed woefully to meet the yearnings of the Nigerian that he has sworn on oath to protect and care for. And I think the jeering and rejection at Kaduna has proved me right. And the Great Kaduna Rejection despite the alleged financial inducement may be a signal that Nigerians are ready this time round to take the bull by the horns.

Again, many analysts were of the opinion that fixing their inaugural campaign rally in Kaduna, the political capital and the hotbed of the Northern politics by the APC campaign council was a way to get buy-in from the obviously offended and dissatisfied North. Of course the North like the other regions (except the Tinub’s Southwest) is feeling offended and dissatisfied with divisive policies of the Tinubu administration that has grossly marginalized the entire region, creating mass impoverishment, youth unemployment and uncertainty in the polity. The resentment against Tinubu by the North is made worse by the continued incarceration of Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State and a key Northern political figure who has been in the ICPC custody since February. Many Northern elements feel that it is an affront on the entire region for Tinubu to keep El-Rufai in detention with impossible bail condition and come around to start his campaign in his domain. So, the failure of the APC inaugural presidential campaign rally in Kaduna could be attributed to the El-Rufai factor. Obviously, Tinubu and his men had intended to use the rally to demystify El-Rufai and dismiss his believed influence in the North but that calculation has produce its backlash.

Another thing that could be seen from the Great Kaduna Rejection of the APC is the party’s desperation and self-deceit as can be seen by the picture of jam-packed arena of people waving flags. An analysis of the picture indicates that what the APC people are showing as the picture of the attendance was indeed AI-generated. There is no end to the APC deception. How can a political party that is deceptive be trusted by the people?

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed can be reached at hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com