President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) over an alleged anti-Northern statement being circulated on social media and attributed to him.
In the petition dated Wednesday and signed by his Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, Esq., on his behalf, Akpabio urged the security agency to urgently investigate what he described as the creation and coordinated dissemination of a false, inflammatory and divisive statement purportedly credited to him.
The statement, circulated on Facebook and other digital platforms, bear the photograph and designation of the President of the Senate and attributes to him the words: “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, stressed that there was no identifiable date, venue, speech, interview, audio or video recording, official statement or credible media report to authenticate the purported quotation.
According to the petition, the graphic also carries no identifiable publisher’s mark or verifiable source, suggesting that it may have been deliberately fabricated and presented as an authentic statement.
The petition said the alleged fabrication appeared designed to deceive members of the public, provoke regional resentment against the Senate President and portray him as threatening the people of Northern Nigeria.
The Senate President further requested the DSS to investigate individuals identified as among the earliest traceable amplifiers of the material on Facebook.
The petition named Abdullai Musa, who allegedly posted the graphic in the Facebook group, Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24, and Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post reportedly reproduced the graphic alongside commentary credited to Boniface Uzoma Chilaka and Engineer Ibrahim Umar Ammar.
It also identified a verified Facebook account belonging to Ibrahim Umar Ammar as having subsequently reproduced the graphic and substantially similar commentary.
Akpabio, however, cautioned that the individuals named should not be presumed guilty before investigation, noting that their early and substantial roles in circulating the material could make them relevant persons of interest to investigators.
He urged the DSS to examine their publication records, devices and communications, as well as trace the provenance of the disputed image, in accordance with the law.
The petition further requested that the investigation identify the alleged graphics designer, original uploader, sponsors, intermediaries and wider network through which the material was disseminated.
The Senate President’s petition comes amid heightened political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections, with social media platforms increasingly serving as channels for political messaging and the dissemination of unverified claims.
