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Misleading

AI-generated image shared as photograph of APC rally in Cross River

Nurudeen Akewushola
Nurudeen Akewushola
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A photograph showing a massive crowd of people waving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) flags has been shared on social media as evidence of the party’s large turnout at its campaign rally in Cross River State, South-South Nigeria.

The image was shared on 2 November 2026, by an X user, Ibrahim Hussaini (@IbrahimHmayo), with the caption: “Cross River is for APC. APC Any where you go In sha Allahu.”

The post, which had attracted over 416,000 views at the time of this report, suggests that the photograph depicts the crowd at the APC rally held at U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar, Cross River State on Monday.

U. J. Esuene Stadium in is a 16,000-capacity multi-purpose stadium, primarily used for football. Opened in 1977, it’s home to Calabar Rovers and has hosted significant national and international games, including 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and eight matches during the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

 

CLAIM

A photograph shared on X shows a massive crowd of APC supporters at the party’s campaign rally in Cross River State.

screenshot of the viral post

FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING because the photograph is AI-generated and does not represent an authentic image of the rally.

The FactCheckHub first established that the APC held a campaign rally at U.J. Esuene Stadium in Cross River on Monday, 2 November 2026. Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu, attended the event alongside Cross River State governor Bassey Otu and other party leaders.

Media reports confirmed that the rally attracted supporters from across the state. Channels Television also reported that a large crowd of party supporters gathered at the stadium.

However, this does not establish the authenticity of the photograph circulated by Hussaini.

The real picture from the rally scene

To verify the image, The FactCheckHub subjected it to AI-detection tools. ZeroGPT returned a 99 per cent probability that the image was AI-generated. Similarly, Hive Moderation’s AI image detector also identified the photograph as AI-generated. The Is It AI detector likewise indicated that the image was artificially generated.

Further examination of the photograph revealed inconsistencies when compared with the actual structure of U.J. Esuene Stadium.

The FactCheckHub geolocated the image and compared its depiction of the stadium with the venue’s actual physical structure. The image shows the stadium’s stands as completely covered, which is inconsistent with the actual structure of U.J. Esuene Stadium, where the stands are not entirely covered.

These structural inconsistencies, alongside the results from the AI-detection tools, indicate that the photograph is not an authentic photograph of the APC rally.

Although the APC rally took place and attracted supporters, the image shared on X cannot be used as photographic evidence of the event or its turnout.

VERDICT

MISLEADING. The APC held a campaign rally at U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar on 2 November 2026, but the photograph shared as evidence of the gathering is AI-generated.

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Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.

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