Claim
An image depicting an extraordinarily large crowd of supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has circulated on social media, particularly Facebook and X, in connection with the party’s presidential campaign flag-off held in Kaduna State on October 24, 2026.
The image was shared in a way that suggests it was a genuine photograph of supporters who attended the rally.
A Facebook page, Tinubu Media Team, with 293.3k followers published the image with the title: Renewed Hope movement rally in Kaduna, Nigeria. It has a caption that reads: “Kaduna is on fire! The crowd is massive, the energy is unmatched, and the Renewed Hope movement is loud and clear!” It also has a hashtag: #RenewedHopeInKaduna #Tinubu2027.
At the time of filing this fact-check, it has 92 likes, 63 comments and seven shares since it was published on October 26, 2026.
Why We Checked
The image was published on the day that campaigns opened for the ruling All Progressive Congress and it was capable of misleading the public to believe that the party had massive support, luring them to make decisions that could align with crowd perception.
Furthermore, political images can shape public perception by creating impressions of a party’s popularity, the size of its support base and the level of public enthusiasm surrounding its candidates.
Also, an AI-generated image presented as a real photograph can mislead audiences into believing that a political event attracted a crowd of a particular size when the image does not provide reliable evidence of actual attendance.
After our verification, we found that the image was AI generated and targeted at misleading the public.
Verification
We began by attempting to find if this image had existed before and is being reused. This we did by uploading the image on Google, using the Google lens – reverse image – tool.
We found that the image was not in existence before October 24 when it first surfaced online.
However, Google made some remarkable submissions when we requested to know if the image had existed before and whether it was AI-generated.
Here is an image representing the response of Google to the request.
The image was produced using an Artificial Intelligence tool and there are visible signs.
To establish the origin and authenticity of the image, we examined its visual details.
A closer examination of the image revealed several unusual features that raised serious questions about its authenticity.
Repeated crowd patterns: Large sections of the crowd appear to contain similar or duplicated clusters of people. The repetition creates an unnatural visual pattern that is inconsistent with the variation normally expected in a genuine photograph of a large gathering.
Distorted flags and other details: Some APC flags and the people apparently holding them appear distorted or poorly defined when examined closely. Certain details seem to merge into irregular shapes rather than retaining the clear structure expected in an ordinary photograph.
Unnatural visual consistency: The apparent repetition of people and crowd formations across different parts of the image further raises concerns about whether the scene represents a real gathering or an artificially constructed visual.
These observations are consistent with common signs found in some AI-generated images. Although visual inspection alone cannot establish an image’s origin with absolute certainty, the combined irregularities provide important reasons to question its authenticity.
Verdict: FALSE — AI-GENERATED IMAGE.
The image appears to have been artificially created and circulated in a misleading political context. It should not be used as photographic evidence of the crowd at the APC’s 2026 campaign flag-off or attributed to the 2019 rally without further verifiable evidence.
If you find this image online do not share it as a representation of the crowd at the rally of the All Progressives Congress held in Kaduna, as it was generated with Artificial Intelligence.
