Alleged audio tapes of Rotimi Amaechi, Transport Minister, castigating the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, has been described as a ploy to embarrass the former Rivers State governor.
Mr Amaechi, over the weekend, in two separate audios, was reported to have spoken ill of the government of which he serves.
POLITICS TIMES at the moment could not verify the authenticity of the tapes hence our refusal to publish its details.
Already, the Buhari For Better Tomorrow Movement has condemned the clips saying those who released the audio tapes plotted to embarrass the minister.
“Our attention has been drawn to the manufactured audio clip attributed to the Minister of Transportation and Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council by some political opponents of the Minister within and outside the party wrongfully quoting him criticising the Buhari Administration,” the group said in a statement sent to POLITICS TIMES.
Ibrahim Abubakar, the National Publicity Secretary of the group said there is no doubt that we live in the era of fake news media powered by new technologies that enables the fake news industry to prototype the voice of anyone who poses threat to their political survival.
“For instance, a Montreal-based startup called Lyrebird last year released a product which allows users to create an audio clip of anyone saying anything. Here’s the company using a fake clip of former President Barack Obama to market their technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxviTLVjvDQ
“However, the intention of the company was not to use it to scandalize anybody, but to simply use it to re-create the voice of anyone who lost his or her voice to diseases among other things.
“The new technology for creating faked audio evolved quickly in the era of active information campaigns and their use of “fake news.” The technology which has gone viral has created serious repercussions for politics as influence-mongers are now using it to create fake clips of politicians perceived as enemy.
“We however have it in good authority that more personalities in the Buhari campaign team are been targeted with both audio and video clips in the coming days.
“No doubt, the faked audio clip is part of the Dubai agenda to cripple the rising profile of Mr. Amaechi.
“Is it not curious that a day after Atiku returned from Dubai, his media machinery released the cloned audio clip to the media?
“Therefore, while we urge the teeming supporters of Mr. President to ignore the fake audio of Rotimi Amaechi, we ask President Buhari not to pay any attention to the trending news because it’s the handiwork of his political enemies within and outside the party.”
