Man Behind Viral AI-Generated ‘Tinubu Voice Note’ Arrested
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a man identified as Ifechukwu Dennis, alleged to be the originator of a controversial AI-generated voice note falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu and circulated widely across social media platforms.
The arrest comes days after the Presidency faced criticism for initially directing attention toward social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, otherwise known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), over the manipulated recording.
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, announced Dennis’ arrest on Thursday via his verified X account.
“The IGP crack team has arrested Ifechukwu Dennis who originated the fake voice that he passed on to his gullible targets as President Tinubu’s voice. Dennis was arrested in Benin. The police will issue an official statement,” Onanuga wrote.
The development marks a significant twist in a controversy that erupted on May 27, 2026, after a video featuring an audio recording purportedly containing President Tinubu’s voice went viral online.
In the recording, a voice resembling that of the president allegedly made a series of inflammatory and politically sensitive remarks, including claims that insecurity in Nigeria’s South-East region was deliberate, assertions that he pressured Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2023 election, and suggestions that he was unconcerned about the hardship faced by Nigerians.
The recording triggered widespread outrage and political debate before investigations by multiple media organisations and digital verification experts reportedly established that the audio was artificially generated using artificial intelligence technology.
Subsequent findings indicated that the manipulated clip did not originate from VeryDarkMan, contrary to initial claims circulated online.
Investigators reportedly discovered that an unidentified individual extracted footage from one of VDM’s original Instagram videos and superimposed the AI-generated audio before distributing the altered content across social media platforms.
Despite those findings, the Presidency had earlier called for action against VDM.
At the height of the controversy, Onanuga had described the incident as “a clear case of egregious abuse of the social media platform,” drawing criticism from media observers and fact-checkers who pointed out that the activist’s original video contained none of the fabricated audio.
The arrest of Dennis now appears to support claims that the manipulated recording originated from elsewhere.
Meanwhile, social media commentator AJE with X handle @Riddwane claimed that digital forensic analysis helped identify the alleged source of the viral content.
“A tech expert has just traced the origin of the fake AI voice note attributed to President Tinubu and revealed the true identity of the suspected mastermind of the fake voice note: Ifechukwu Dennis,” he wrote on X.
Atech expert has just traced the origin of the fake AI voice note attributed to President Tinubu and revealed the true identity of suspected mastermind of the fake voice note: IFECHUKWU DENNIS. @OfficialDSSNG @PoliceNG pic.twitter.com/fQ3nmjDpAf
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Police Force had yet to release an official statement detailing the circumstances surrounding Dennis’ arrest, the evidence linking him to the AI-generated recording, or the specific criminal charges he may face.
The incident has once again highlighted growing concerns over the misuse of artificial intelligence technologies to create deceptive political content, particularly as Nigeria grapples with rising cases of digital misinformation and deepfake manipulation capable of influencing public perception and political discourse.
The controversy also raises fresh questions about the speed with which public authorities assign responsibility for viral online content before forensic verification is completed.
