Senate President Godswill Akpabio has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate the alleged fabrication and circulation of a statement purportedly portraying him as making an anti-North comment.
Akpabio, in the petition signed by his Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, Esq., described the alleged statement as a calculated attempt to inflame regional tensions and damage his relationship with Nigerians in the North.
The development was disclosed yesterday by Jackson Udom, Special Assistant to the Senate President on Media.
The disputed graphic, which carries Akpabio’s photograph and official designation, purportedly quotes him as saying: “Northerners, you will be the ones to suffer the most, if you allow Tinubu to lose the election.”
Akpabio, however, categorically denied making the statement, saying there was no identifiable date, venue, speech, interview, audio, video, official statement or credible media report to authenticate the purported quotation.
In the petition, he urged the DSS to investigate the creation, publication and alleged coordinated dissemination of the material, which he described as inflammatory and capable of provoking resentment against him.
The petition said the graphic carried no identifiable publisher’s mark or verifiable source, which Akpabio’s camp argued suggested that it may have been deliberately fabricated to mislead the public.
The Senate President further requested the DSS to trace the origin and distribution chain of the material, including the identity of the alleged graphics designer, original uploader, sponsors and intermediaries involved in its circulation.
The petition said preliminary checks of publicly accessible Facebook records identified some individuals allegedly among the earliest amplifiers of the graphic.
They included Abdullai Musa, who allegedly shared the material in the Facebook group, “Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24,” and Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post reportedly reproduced the graphic alongside commentary attributed to Boniface Uzoma Chilaka and Engineer Ibrahim Umar Ammar.
The petition also alleged that a verified Facebook account later reproduced the same graphic and substantially similar commentary.
Akpabio, however, cautioned that the identified individuals should not be presumed guilty, describing them instead as “material persons of interest” whose activities could assist investigators in establishing the source and circulation of the alleged fabrication.
He urged the DSS to examine relevant publication records, devices and communications, as well as the provenance of the image.
According to the petition, the investigation should establish who created the material, who first published it, who financed or facilitated its dissemination and how it was amplified across digital platforms.
Akpabio said the alleged publication was particularly dangerous because of its potential to fuel regional sentiments at a time of heightened political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.
