Comrade Timi Frank, former APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, has raised an alarm over an alleged state-sponsored plot to use advanced AI deepfake technology to doctor surveillance recordings of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
In a public statement released on Friday, May 29, 2026, Frank claimed that the ICPC and DSS have bugged El-Rufai’s detention quarters, capturing hours of private conversations with his family and legal defense team. According to Frank, security operatives plan to manipulate these recordings using generative AI to create incriminating evidence, which will then be leaked to the press to justify prolonging his custody and destroying his reputation.
“The plan is to use AI to distort some of these recordings to frame El-Rufai… to tarnish his reputation and keep him in custody,” Frank stated.
This controversy unfolds while El-Rufai remains detained despite being granted a ₦100 million bail by the Federal High Court in Abuja. He faces overlapping corruption and national security charges across the ICPC, EFCC, and DSS, including claims of illegally wiretapping the National Security Adviser’s phone lines.
Frank condemned the continuous detention as a political vendetta, warning that weaponizing manufactured digital evidence sets a dangerous precedent for Nigeria’s democracy. He demanded an immediate halt to extrajudicial surveillance and called for El-Rufai’s immediate release in line with court orders.
Neither the ICPC nor the DSS has responded to these allegations.
