Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has petitioned Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate alleged fabrication and circulation of a statement purportedly attributed to him, warning that the material could inflame regional sentiments and deepen political tensions ahead of the 2027 general election.
In the petition signed by his Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, Akpabio described the statement as “manifestly false, inflammatory and dangerously divisive”, and urged the security agency to urgently investigate its creation and coordinated dissemination on Facebook and other digital platforms.
The statement, which was circulated in a graphic bearing Akpabio’s photograph and designation, purportedly quoted him as saying, “Northerners, you will be the ones to suffer the most, if you allow Tinubu to lose the election.”
Akpabio, through the petition, unequivocally denied making the statement, saying no evidence had been produced to authenticate the purported quotation.
According to the petition, there is no identifiable date, venue, speech, interview, video, audio recording, official statement or credible news report linking the senate president to the statement.
It also alleged that the graphic had no identifiable publisher’s mark or verifiable source and appeared to have been deliberately created and presented as an authentic quotation.
The petition stated that the apparent objective was to deceive members of the public, provoke regional resentment against the senate president, and portray him as threatening the people of Northern Nigeria.
Akpabio consequently requested DSS to establish the origin of the graphic, identify those responsible for its production and distribution, and investigate the network allegedly involved in its circulation.
The senate president also drew the attention of the security agency to what his office described as a preliminary examination of publicly accessible Facebook records, which allegedly identified some of the earliest traceable amplifiers of the material.
The petition named Abdullai Musa, who allegedly posted the graphic in a Facebook group identified as “Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24,” and Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post allegedly reproduced the graphic alongside commentary attributed to Boniface Uzoma Chilaka and Engineer Ibrahim Umar Ammar.
It further mentioned a verified Facebook account belonging to Ibrahim Umar Ammar, which allegedly subsequently reproduced the graphic and substantially similar commentary.
Akpabio, however, cautioned against presuming the named individuals guilty before investigation, stressing that their identification is based on their alleged early and substantial roles in circulating the material.
Office of the President of the Senate had challenged the authors and promoters of a social media publication, demanding that they produce evidence or withdraw the claim and apologise publicly.
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Akpabio, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, in a statement, said Akpabio never made the statement and challenged those circulating it to produce the original video or audio recording, authenticated transcript, date, venue and details of the occasion where the senate president allegedly made the comment.
Eyiboh dismissed the allegation by pointing to Akpabio’s political relationships and official appointments, which he said cut across regional lines.
He stated that the senate president’s governing partnership with Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin of Kano, as well as the presence of northerners among senior officials and aides in his office, contradicted attempts to portray Akpabio as hostile to the region.