The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has dismissed as a “complete fabrication” a statement attributed to him that Northerners would be made to suffer between January and May, 2027 if President Bola Tinubu loses the 2027 election.
Miffed by the viral report crediting him with the alleged threat, Akpabio challenged those circulating it to produce evidence or withdraw the allegation.
A reaction on Wednesday by his Media Adviser, Eseme Eyiboh, said Akpabio “never made such a statement,” stressing that there was no video, audio recording, speech, interview, press release, transcript or credible news report in which the alleged words were uttered.
“A photograph carrying words placed beneath it is not evidence; it is merely an allegation wearing typography,” Eyiboh said.
The Akpabio camp specifically challenged the author of the report, Ibrahim Umar Ammar, who posted it on his verified Facebook profile, to produce the original and unedited recording.
Akpabio identified Ammar as one of the coordinators of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) campaign groups promoting the ADC presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The Senate President demanded details of the alleged occasion, including the date, venue, audience and media organisations that covered the alleged event where Akpabio made the alleged threat.
The Office said anyone claiming merely to have reposted the material should identify its original source and provide the first publication.
It added that those who created, knowingly republished or coordinated the dissemination of the alleged fabrication should be identified and held accountable in accordance with the law.
“If no evidence exists, then the honourable course is straightforward: withdraw the fabrication, apologise publicly and stop poisoning Nigeria’s political atmosphere with dangerous ethnic propaganda,” it said.
According to the President of the Senate, the alleged quotation amounted to a calculated incitement capable of creating fear and hostility between Northern Nigerians and a national leader (Akpabio) from the South.
Akpabio said political contests should be fought with “ideas, records and credible alternatives—not fabricated quotations capable of threatening national unity,” warning that no electoral ambition justified exploiting ethnic sentiments.
The Senate President’s office also cited Akpabio’s political relationships and appointments as evidence that the allegation was inconsistent with his record.
It noted that several officials in his office are Northerners, including his Special Adviser on NGO and Diaspora Matters, Alhaji Dr Jibril Lawal Tafida.
It also recalled that prominent Northern politicians and senators backed Akpabio’s emergence as Senate President, where he defeated his opponent by 63 votes to 46.
The Office further pointed to Akpabio’s partnership with Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin of Kano, who emerged unopposed, saying it was “absurd and dishonest” to portray Akpabio as an enemy of the North when his political relationships, appointments and legislative alliances extended deeply across the region.
The statement cited legislative interventions under Akpabio’s leadership, including the establishment of the North-West Development Commission and the North-Central Development Commission.
Akpabio urged Nigerians not to become “unwitting transmission belts” for the alleged falsehood, insisting that repetition, likes and social media shares could not authenticate a quotation.
“The burden of proof rests squarely upon those making and circulating the allegation,” he said, demanding the original video or audio, an authenticated transcript, the date and venue of the alleged statement and the names of media organisations that witnessed or reported it.
“If none of these can be produced, admit that the quotation was fabricated, withdraw it immediately and apologise publicly,” he demanded, urging political parties to conduct the 2027 contest without turning ethnicity into campaign ammunition.