Senator Shehu Buba, representing Bauchi South, released an official public statement on Sunday, September 6, 2026, categorically dismissing viral videos attempting to link him to high-profile bandit kingpins.
Describing the footage as a “fabricated, manipulated, and recycled campaign of disinformation,” the lawmaker stated that the media attacks are politically motivated attempts to tarnish his reputation.
The detailed press statement, titled “Setting the Record Straight: My Response to Fabricated Videos, False Allegations and a Sustained Campaign of Disinformation,” was formally issued from his residence in Abuja.
Buba, who currently chairs the Senate Committee on Livestock and Animal Husbandry and serves as the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) governorship candidate for Bauchi State, clarified that a detailed fact-check proved the viral content was a combination of two completely unrelated clips.
The senator traced the origin of the ongoing smear campaign to specific events spanning the past three years:
The Footage was recorded in during 2023 Kaduna-based Hajj returnees making a routine courtesy visit to Buba’s private residence. This footage was later spliced together with an unrelated clip of individuals speaking English while displaying passports, with false claims alleging the visitors were active bandit leaders.
Tensions mounted when Senator Buba publicly condemned the killing of two local charcoal sellers on September 15, 2024, allegedly carried out by a militia group tied to the Bauchi State Agency for Vigilante and Youth Empowerment.
Following his public call for justice, government actors, including Bauchi State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Abubakar Abdulhamid Bununu, publicly linked Buba’s name to criminal elements, an assertion Buba strongly rejected.
A digital content creator operating under the moniker “D English Alhaji” recirculated the merged videos in August 2026, alongside fresh claims, which Buba noted coincided with his political transition from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PRP.
Addressing the blackmail underlying the videos, Buba revealed that several individuals had attempted to extort money from him using the footage.
Through his legal counsel, Musa Ogah, Senator Buba filed a formal petition with the Nigeria Police Force CID on September 9, 2025.
Five suspects were formally arraigned before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia at the Federal High Court in Abuja on October 30, 2025, under Case No. FHC/ABJ/CR/526/2025.
Charges included cyberstalking, criminal conspiracy, extortion, and defamation. The court adjourned the matter, with the next hearing scheduled for September 29, 2026.
Senator Buba confirmed that his legal team submitted a formal criminal complaint to the Public Prosecutor at the Tribunal of First Instance in Niamey, Niger Republic, targeting a collaborator, Hassan Saleh Hussein, for cross-border cyber defamation.
Speaking on his tenure as the former Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Buba explained that his previous roles involved complex non-kinetic strategies, community engagement, and intelligence-gathering that could not always be disclosed publicly. He cautioned the media against accepting online propaganda as truth.
”Modern disinformation thrives on recycling old allegations, editing them, attaching new captions, and redistributing them until repetition masquerades as evidence,” Buba declared.
He urged security agencies, fact-checkers, and civil society organizations to independently interrogate the clips, review court records, and base judgment on evidence rather than social media manipulation.
