UPDATED: Akpabio Denies Threatening North Over 2027 Election

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has dismissed as false reports that he threatened Northerners would suffer if President Bola Tinubu loses the 2027 presidential election.

In a statement released on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media, Eseme Eyiboh, Akpabio described the alleged remark as a “complete fabrication” and challenged those behind it to provide proof.

Titled “Desperate and Dangerous Lie: Produce the Evidence or Withdraw It,” the statement said there is no record of Akpabio making such a comment. According to the Senate President’s office, no video, audio, speech, interview, press release or credible news report exists to support the claim.

Akpabio said a photo circulating online with the alleged quote is not evidence, calling it “an allegation wearing typography.”

He specifically called out Engr. Ibrahim Umar Ammar, who he said is linked to the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation and ADC-NYAF in Kano, to present original, unedited video or audio of the alleged statement. He demanded details of the date, venue, and occasion where it was supposedly made.

The Senate President warned against using fake statements to stoke ethnic tension ahead of 2027. He said political contest should be based on policies, records and vision, not fabricated quotes designed to pit regions against each other.

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Akpabio argued that his actions contradict claims of hostility toward the North. He pointed to Northern appointees in his office, his working relationship with Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, and legislation establishing development commissions for North-West and North-Central.

He also cited federal projects in Kano and Zamfara, and the National Assembly’s intervention after floods in Maiduguri.

He further noted that Senate-backed laws on student loans, minimum wage, security and education benefit all Nigerians regardless of region.

Akpabio urged Nigerians to verify sensitive political claims before sharing them online, stressing that repetition on social media does not make a quote true.

He concluded that the 2027 elections must remain issue-based, and that ethnicity should not be used as campaign ammunition.

“The North is not an electoral weapon. The South is not an enemy. And Nigeria’s unity must never become collateral damage in anybody’s campaign for power,” he said.

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