The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President of the Senate, Rt. Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, has dismissed as a “desperate and dangerous lie” a statement circulating on social media allegedly attributed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, threatening that Northerners would suffer if President Bola Tinubu loses the 2027 election.
Eyiboh, in a statement said Akpabio “never made such a statement,” challenging those circulating the alleged quotation to produce verifiable evidence of where and when it was made.
The statement reads:
The statement attributed to the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, GCON—“We will make sure Northerners suffer from January to May if Tinubu loses the election”—is a complete fabrication. Senator Akpabio never made such a statement. There is no video, audio recording, speech, interview, press release, transcript or credible news report in which those words were uttered by him. A photograph carrying words placed beneath it is not evidence; it is merely an allegation wearing typography.
We therefore challenge its sponsor, Engr. Ibrahim Umar Ammar, whose verified Facebook profile identifies him with the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation and as Coordinator of ADC-NYAF, Kano State, as well as every other person involved in creating, publishing or circulating this malicious material, to produce the evidence. His verified Facebook profile also contains several other inflammatory political materials which, in our view, warrant careful scrutiny by the appropriate authorities, particularly where their content may be capable of promoting ethnic hostility, public disorder or other conduct prohibited by law.
As regards this particular fabrication, the challenge is simple: produce the original and unedited video or audio recording showing precisely where, when and before whom Senator Akpabio made the alleged statement. Name the occasion. Give the date and venue. Provide the complete recording, not a conveniently edited fragment. Identify the journalists and media organisations that covered it. Let Nigerians see and hear the evidence for themselves.
If Engr. Ammar or anyone else claims merely to have reposted the material rather than originated it, then let him identify the source from whom he obtained it and provide the original publication. The chain of publication should be established. Those who created the fabrication, those who knowingly republished it as fact, and those who may have coordinated its dissemination should each be identified on the evidence 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.
This is not legitimate political opposition. It is calculated incitement designed to manufacture fear, resentment and hostility between Northern Nigerians and a national leader from the South. Nigeria has already paid too terrible a price for the reckless exploitation of ethnicity. No election is worth setting Nigerians against one another, and no ambition for public office justifies stoking the embers of tribalism simply to harvest votes. Political contests must be fought with ideas, records and credible alternatives—not fabricated quotations capable of threatening national unity.
The lie is also contradicted by Senator Akpabio’s relationships, appointments and public record. He has longstanding friends, associates and political allies throughout Northern Nigeria, and many of the aides serving in his Office are Northerners entrusted with significant responsibilities. Among them is Alhaji Dr Jibril Lawal Tafida, his Special Adviser on NGO and Diaspora Matters. These appointments reflect confidence, inclusion and national integration—not hostility towards any region. His campaign for the Senate presidency was championed by prominent Northern political leaders and senators, while Northern organisations publicly endorsed him in the interest of equity and national unity. He was elected Senate President by 63 votes against 46, an outcome that could not have been achieved without substantial support across regional lines. His governing partnership is with Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin of Kano, an esteemed Northerner who emerged unopposed on the same day. It is therefore both absurd and dishonest to portray as an enemy of the North a man whose closest political relationships, official appointments and legislative alliances extend deeply across the region.
Under Senator Akpabio’s leadership, the Senate passed legislation establishing the North-West Development Commission to confront the region’s infrastructural, economic and security-related challenges. The National Assembly also passed the North-Central Development Commission legislation, subsequently signed into law, as well as laws establishing a Federal Polytechnic in Rano, Kano State, and a Federal University of Health Sciences in Tsafe, Zamfara State. These are tangible institutional interventions intended to promote education, reconstruction, employment and development across Northern communities—not the actions of a leader plotting their suffering.
When devastating floods struck Maiduguri, Senator Akpabio personally visited Borno State and mobilised the solidarity of the National Assembly. The Senate contributed ₦74 million to assist the victims, as part of a total ₦174 million intervention by both chambers. His Senate has also supported national legislation on student loans, the minimum wage, security, education and economic development—measures from which millions of Northerners benefit equally with other Nigerians.
Those responsible for creating or knowingly disseminating this fabrication should understand that freedom of political expression does not confer a licence to invent explosive ethnic threats and attribute them falsely to innocent people. Political freedom carries political responsibility, particularly in a diverse country where inflammatory falsehoods can have consequences far beyond the electoral contest in which they are deployed.
Nigerians should therefore refuse to become unwitting transmission belts for this dangerous falsehood. Before sharing it, demand the primary evidence. A quotation of this gravity cannot be authenticated by repetition, likes, shares or the number of Facebook accounts carrying it. If Senator Akpabio said it, there should be evidence of where and when he said it. If there is no such evidence, multiplying the fabrication across social media cannot magically transform it into truth.
The burden of proof rests squarely upon those making and circulating the allegation. Senator Akpabio cannot reasonably be required to prove that he did not utter words at an unidentified place, on an unidentified date, before an unidentified audience and in an unidentified speech. Those asserting that he made the statement must establish their claim.
The demand is therefore straightforward and categorical: produce the original video, produce the original audio, produce an authenticated transcript, name the occasion, give the date and venue, and identify the media organisations that witnessed or reported the statement. If none of these can be produced, admit that the quotation was fabricated, withdraw it immediately and apologise publicly.
Let the 2027 contest be vigorous. Let political parties interrogate records, challenge policies, expose failures, defend achievements and present competing visions for Nigeria. But let the contest remain truthful, responsible and Nigerian. There are lines that political ambition must never cross, and deliberately exploiting Nigeria’s ethnic sensitivities through manufactured statements is one of them.
The North is not an electoral weapon. The South is not an enemy. Ethnicity is not campaign ammunition. And Nigeria’s unity must never become collateral damage in anybody’s campaign for power.
PRODUCE THE EVIDENCE OR WITHDRAW THE LIE.
Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh
Special Adviser, Media and Publicity
Office of the President of the Senate
Jackson Udom
Special Assistant To President Of The Senate On Media.
Special Assistant To President Of The Senate On Media.
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