The truth behind VDM’s purported voice note linked to President Tinubu

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Lois Ugbede, Cole Praise

On Thursday, May 27, 2026, an alleged video of self-acclaimed human rights activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), reacting to leaked voice notes purportedly from President Bola Tinubu, went viral. 

A TikTok user, RATEL TV (@ugwaifechukwudavid1), shared this video (archived here) with the caption, “Listen to this Tinubu leaked voice note.”

The video showed VDM playing three WhatsApp voice notes and reacting to them. In the voice notes played in the background of the video, the supposed voice of President Tinubu was heard. The person expressed his intention to run for a second term, noting he cared less about the looming insecurity in the country.

In the first voice note, the person said, “They’ve been trying to take me out of the position, but it’s not possible. And mind you, I’m winning this election. I don’t care whatever is happening. Nigerians deserve it. Because when I was running as a president, they didn’t want me. Now all of a sudden, they want me to rescue them from insecurity.”

In the second voice note, the person spoke about his request to Peter Obi to step down for him. 

He said, “As of last week, I called Peter Obi to step down for me, but he refused. I am not begging him again. I will be whatsoever in my mind, and I will make sure the insecurity affects people in Southeast more. Listen, I am going to borrow more and more money from the World Bank.”

The third voice note focused on the insecurity which the person said he doesn’t want to end. 

“Understand me? I won’t like to stop this insecurity because if I do, how will our party be able to raise funds to win elections? Think about it. Even the loans I am taking are to fund them. Also, I have plans after I am done with my position as president,” the voice said. 

As of May 29, 2026, the TikTok video had 211 likes, 32 comments, 21 saves, and 25 shares. 

In response to this post, TikTok user @nestyace01 questioned the video’s source. The user asked, “Where did you get this video?”

Another user, @JEFFF, claimed the page is notorious for altering VDM’s posts. 

He wrote,  “Who has noticed that this page has been editing VDM’s videos and adding AI videos on it?” 

We found that this video had spread beyond TikTok to Facebook, as seen here and here.

The video also appeared on X, where a user, @pious_minister, shared RATEL TV’s video (archived here) and questioned why anyone would believe the voice note.

We also got a verification request for another version of the video on WhatsApp. This version showed another TikTok user, @husslaviralclip5, shared it.

Due to the post’s sensitivity, virality, and verification requests, DUBAWA decided to investigate the facts around the voice notes. 

The video is digitally altered

DUBAWA first tried to find if the videos are still up on both TikTok users’ accounts (RATEL TV @ugwaifechukwudavid1 and Verydarkblvckman’s @hysslaviralclip5)

While we found that the video by @ugwaifechukwudavid1 was still up, we were unable to find it on @hysslaviralclip5’s profile. We observed that @hysslaviralclip5 had only six videos published, all of which were of VDM, but the page does not belong to VDM. 

We then checked VeryDarkMan’s Instagram and Facebook accounts to see if he made any related posts in the last 72 hours. While we found nothing related to the claim on VDM’s Facebook page, we found a video of him related to President Tinubu in one of his Instagram posts. However, we observed that the content VDM was reacting to had been changed in the viral video.

In the Instagram post published on May 26, 2026, VeryDarkMan began by responding to a woman named King Mitchy, who accused him of using black magic (juju) to manipulate the public. 

“Na only people when dem use jazz take hold their destiny no go fight for change after the failure of fulfilling the promises made,” the post’s caption reads.

However, the video addressed a campaign video by President Tinubu, stating that he should not be voted for a second term if he fails to deliver on his promise to provide electricity. 

The video, which TVC News covered, was tagged “2023 Presidential Race. Business lunch with Asiwaju.”

In the video, Tinubu said, “By all means necessary, you must have electricity, and you must not pay for an estimated bill anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept. If I don’t keep the promise to you, and I come back for a second term, don’t vote for me. That is the truth.”

VDM, News reports debunk video

In a later post shared on May 27, 2026, VeryDarkMan described the claimant’s post, among others, as a paid narrative intended to find him guilty of “treason” before the law and to have him arrested. 

Premium Times reported that the viral clip, which the presidency also referenced, was obtained from VeryDarkMan’s original Instagram video and tampered with using AI. 

In a similar vein, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) reported that the audio, which appeared on WhatsApp and later X, was “doctored.”

WhatsApp Voice Notes, Deepfake

We compared the viral voice notes in the video to existing videos of the president’s Eid address and his speech at the primaries of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). 

We observed that in the viral voice notes, the president’s speech was smooth and fast, with no pauses or breath marks, unlike his usual speech. Usually, organic or original speech includes micropauses for breathing, but deepfakes frequently lack natural breathing sounds or place breaths in odd places. 

We also observed that the voice notes had grammatical errors and incomplete sentences, suggesting jump cuts or some form of editing. For example, in the second voice note about Peter Obi, Tinubu is heard saying “…I called Peter Obi but he re…. Now I am not begging him again.” The unfinished statement “but he re..” was followed by a change in the president’s tone and pitch. 

Also, the following sentence, “I will whatsoever in my mind,” is not a comprehensive statement, although listeners might assume he meant “I will do whatsoever in my mind.”

Resemble AI highlights inconsistencies in pacing, rhythm, and pronunciation, as well as glitches, which we identified here as anomalies to look out for when detecting audio deepfakes.

These red flags prompted us to subject the audio to deepfake detection tools. We split the audio from the video into three because the video shows there are three different voice notes. We then analysed each audio with the Hiya Deepfake Detector. 

The first audio, 23 seconds long, had an authenticity score of 45/100; the second audio, 25 seconds long, had an authenticity score of 2/100; and the third, 20 seconds long, had an authenticity score of 48/100. 

Screenshot of Hiya’s result for the first voice note.

We extracted the audio from the full video and analysed it with Deepfake Voice Detection. It evaluated its authenticity as 25% and labelled it a “potential deepfake.” 

This tool noted that the vocal delivery in the audio shows unnatural fluctuations in pitch and intonation, with moments that sound robotic and lack genuine emotional depth, which confirms our observations above.

Deepfake Voice Detection also noted that the background noise is either completely absent or very minimal and repetitive, which suggests it is not organic. Odd background noise is characteristic of deepfake audio, as highlighted by DAIDAC and Resemble AI.

“The audio exhibits significant signs of Al generation. There are noticeable inconsistencies in vocal delivery, unnatural pauses, and a lack of genuine emotional expression. The background noise also appears to be artificial or absent, further pointing towards synthesis,” the Deepfake Voice Detection analysis summary reads.

To verify the tool’s effectiveness and rating, we used the two original speeches by the president from TVC and Channels TV referenced earlier and subjected them to Hiya Deepfake Detector. We then compared the results and ratings to those of the viral audio.  

The tool rated the President’s Eid message, covered by Channels TV, as authentic, with a 97% score. The tool also rated the President’s APC primaries speech, covered by TVC, as authentic, with a 77% score.

Conclusion

The claim that the voice notes are of President Tinubu is false. Our findings reveal that the video was digitally altered and a deepfake audio was embedded in it. AI deepfake-detecting tools confirm the audio is inauthentic.