Akpabio petitions DSS over alleged anti-Northern statement

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) over an alleged anti-northern statement being circulated on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Akpabio’s Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, made the petition available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.

The petition was filed by Akpabio’s Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, on behalf of the Senate President. It asked the DSS to investigate what it described as a “manifestly false, inflammatory and dangerously divisive statement” being wrongly attributed to Akpabio.

The statement was shared alongside Akpabio’s photograph and official designation. It allegedly quoted him as saying: “Northerners, you will be the ones to suffer the most, if you allow Tinubu to lose the election”.

According to the petition, “Akpabio did not make this statement. No date, venue, speech, interview, video, audio recordings, official statement or credible news report has been produced to authenticate it.”

It also said the graphic had no identifiable publisher or verifiable source, suggesting that it may have been deliberately created to look like a genuine statement from the Senate President.

According to Akubueze, the alleged fake statement was designed to mislead the public, create anger against Akpabio and make it appear that he was threatening people from Northern Nigeria.

The petition identified some Facebook users who allegedly shared the graphic at an early stage. They included Abdullai Musa, who reportedly posted it in a Facebook group called “Sheikh Muhammad bin Uthman group 24”, and Uzoma Chilaka, who allegedly shared it with a commentary attributed to Boniface Uzoma Chilaka and Engineer Ibrahim Umar Ammar.

A verified Facebook account belonging to Ibrahim Umar Ammar was also mentioned as having later shared the same graphic and similar commentary.

However, Akpabio’s office said the people mentioned should not be considered guilty before any investigation is carried out.

“These persons,” the petition noted, “should not be presumed guilty before investigation. Nevertheless, their early and substantial roles in circulating the material make them material persons of interest, who may possess information capable of identifying the graphics designer, original uploader, sponsors, intermediaries and the network through which it was distributed.

“Their publication records, devices, communications and the provenance of the image should therefore be investigated in accordance with the laws”.

The petition comes as political activities increase ahead of the 2027 general elections, with politicians and parties making extensive use of social media to campaign and mobilise supporters.