Senate President Godswill Akpabio has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) over an alleged anti-Northern statement being circulated on Facebook and other digital platforms.
His media aide, Jackson Udom, made the petition public in Abuja on Wednesday.
The petition, submitted by Akpabio’s Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, asked the DSS to investigate the “manifestly false, inflammatory and dangerously divisive statement” allegedly linked to the Senate President.
The social media graphic, which carries Akpabio’s photograph and title, quotes him as saying: “Northerners, You Will Be The Ones To Suffer The Most, If You Allow Tinubu To Lose The Election”.
The petition stated, “Akpabio 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.”
Akubueze alleged that the graphic was created to mislead Nigerians, stir regional anger and damage Akpabio’s reputation.
Several Facebook users were identified as early distributors, but Akpabio’s office stressed that they should not be presumed guilty.
“These persons,” the petition noted, “should not be presumed guilty before investigation.”
The DSS was asked to investigate the material’s origin, publication records, communications and distribution network.
