Activist lawyer, Marshal Abubakar has called on the Presidency to sanction the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, over comments linking social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to an alleged fake audio recording of President Bola Tinubu.

In a statement made available to journalists on Friday, Abubakar accused the presidential aide of spreading falsehood and making inflammatory remarks in a post published on X on 27 May.

He described the comments as embarrassing to the Tinubu administration and urged the Presidency to distance itself from the remarks.

The controversy followed the circulation of an audio clip purportedly featuring President Tinubu discussing insecurity in the South-east, World Bank loans, and his determination to secure re-election in 2027.

Reacting to the development earlier in the week, Onanuga described the recording as fake and called for legal action against VDM, whom he accused of disseminating the audio online.

“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu,” Onanuga wrote on his verified X account, adding that the circulation of manipulated digital content could mislead the public and undermine trust in public institutions.

However, VDM, through his lawyers, Deji Adeyanju & Partners, denied creating or sharing the audio recording.

The legal team stated that a verification of the activist’s social media accounts would show that he neither made nor circulated the recording, accusing government officials of attempting to discredit him because of his criticism of the administration.

Abubakar echoed similar concerns in his Friday statement, arguing that Onanuga’s remarks amounted to an attack on freedom of expression and dissent.

He said it was unfortunate that a former pro-democracy activist and NADECO member was now allegedly defending intolerance and suppressing criticism of government policies.

“Now that the inaccuracy and falsity of Mr Bayo’s allegations has been established, we submit without any sense of equivocation that the right of Nigerians to criticise, condemn, challenge any obnoxious government policy, and the right to demand for a change of government must be re-asserted,” he said.

The lawyer accused Onanuga of attempting to intimidate critics of the Tinubu administration and maintained that Nigerians had a constitutional right to peaceful dissent and political expression.

He called on the Presidency to publicly distance itself from the presidential aide’s comments and impose appropriate sanctions.

Abubakar also said VDM reserved the right to seek civil redress over the matter.

Citing the English case of Redmond-Bate v DPP and Nigerian cases including IGP v ANPP and Arthur Nwankwo v The State, the lawyer argued that freedom of expression protects even provocative or offensive speech provided it does not incite violence.

He further alleged that some of Onanuga’s past comments, including a 2023 statement warning against “Igbo interference in Lagos politics,” were divisive and potentially in breach of provisions of the Cybercrimes Act.

According to him, the comments under review could fall within Sections 24 and 26 of the Cybercrimes Act dealing with false electronic communication and xenophobic expressions.

The controversy comes amid increasing concerns over the spread of AI-generated misinformation and digitally manipulated political content in Nigeria.

The federal government had earlier warned Nigerians against the circulation of fake audio and video materials generated using artificial intelligence tools.

As of the time of filing this report, neither Onanuga nor the Presidency had officially responded to the latest allegations.

The dispute began after VDM was accused of sharing a video containing a purported audio recording of President Tinubu discussing insecurity, foreign loans and the 2027 election.

In the recording, a voice attributed to Tinubu allegedly claimed he would continue borrowing from the World Bank and suggested insecurity in the South-east could affect electoral outcomes.

VDM has since distanced himself from the audio and called on security agencies to investigate its origin.