Bayo Onanuga Reacts As NDC Is Accused Of Passing Off Gambian President’s Crowd As Peter Obi’s Supporters

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has reacted to allegations that the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) circulated footage of a crowd welcoming Gambian President Adama Barrow as though it showed supporters of its presidential candidate Peter Obi in Jos, Plateau State.

Onanuga made the allegation in a post on X, describing the development as a scandal and suggesting that the footage had been used to create a false impression of the crowd Obi attracted during his visit to Jos.

“NDC was caught substituting President Adama Barrow’s Gambian crowd for Peter Obi’s crowd in Jos. What a scandal! In the age of AI, anything is POssible,” he wrote.

Another social media user, identified as Legendary Joe, also criticised the alleged use of the footage, accusing Obi’s supporters of circulating misleading content to portray the NDC leader as enjoying widespread political support.

In a lengthy post titled “The Facts, Without the Noise,” the user claimed that the video was recorded in The Gambia on November 10, 2026, and showed supporters of the National People’s Party (NPP) accompanying President Barrow to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) headquarters to submit his nomination papers ahead of the country’s December 5 presidential election.

The post acknowledged that Obi was also in Jos on November 10 but alleged that some of his supporters used the Gambian footage to exaggerate the reception he received in Nigeria.

The user further argued that the circulation of the video amounted to an attempt to manufacture political popularity, insisting that a crowd gathered for a foreign political leader should not be presented as evidence of support for an opposition figure in Nigeria.

“A borrowed crowd cannot confer a borrowed mandate, and a thousand retweets cannot turn a Gambian procession into a Nigerian political endorsement,” the post stated.

The allegations have brought attention to the circulation of political videos on social media and the importance of verifying the original source and location of footage before sharing it as evidence of political support.

However, the materials provided did not establish who originally circulated the video as footage of Obi’s Jos reception or whether the NDC officially published it.

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