Akpabio petitions SSS over purported anti-North comment

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has petitioned the State Security Service (SSS) over a purported anti-North statement allegedly attributed to him.

The Special Assistant to the President of the Senate on Media, Jackson Udom, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.

A viral statement allegedly quoted Mr Akpabio as threatening that Northerners would suffer if President Bola Tinubu lost the 2027 presidential election.

Mr Udom said the petition, signed by Akpabio’s Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, urged the SSS (also known as the Department of State Services) to urgently investigate the dissemination of the alleged false, inflammatory and divisive statement.

He said the graphic, bearing Mr Akpabio’s photograph and designation, attributed the following words to him: ‘Northerners you will be the ones to suffer the most if you allow Tinubu to lose the election.’

“Unequivocally, the President of the Senate 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.

“The graphic carries no identifiable publisher’s mark or verifiable source,” he said.

Mr Udom said the statement appeared to have been deliberately manufactured and presented as an authentic quotation for the purpose of deceiving unsuspecting members of the public.

He said those behind the scheme intended to provoke regional resentment against Mr Akpabio and portray him as threatening people in the Northern part of the country.

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According to him, preliminary examination of publicly accessible Facebook records identified some persons as among the earliest traceable amplifiers of the purported fabricated graphic.

He listed the persons as Abdullai Musa, who posted the graphic in a Facebook group styled ‘Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24.’

Others were Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post allegedly reproduced the graphic commentary expressly credited to him, and Ibrahim Ammar, a verified Facebook account that subsequently reproduced the graphic and similar commentary.

“These persons should not be presumed guilty before investigation.

“Nevertheless, their early and substantial roles in circulating the material make them persons of interest, who may possess information capable of identifying the graphic designer, original uploader, sponsors, intermediaries and distribution network,” he said.

Mr Udom said their publication records, devices, communications and the provenance of the image should therefore be investigated in accordance with the law.