By Pascal Ibe
Introduction
As the season towards the 2027 general elections gets more intense, ethnicity and tribalism are employed by politicians and their supporters to orchestrate division in Nigeria.
In a deliberate act, the politicians and their supporters use social media platforms to drive their agenda of creating division through negative comments about tribes in the country.
Claim
Users on the X platform have posted a graphic containing a comment which was attributed to Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, threatening Northerners.
In the graphic, Akpabio was quoted as threatening that “We will make sure Northerners suffer from January to May if Tinubu loses the election”
An X user, @dangbanamanger ( iDAN), who posted (archived here) the graphic containing the comment attributed to Akpabio on 7 September, wrote, “ Is this not a threat against the Northerners? Tinubu needs to call Akpabio to order. But he won’t because of desperation”
The post has already generated over 340,000 views as of the early hours of 10 September.
Quoting iDAN’s post, an activist and an opposition figure, Aisha Yesufu wrote, “Is it the same Tinubu that has already lost or is there another one?”
Another X user shared the same graphic here.
Verification
First, FACTWATCH Nigeria reviewed recent videos and reports of Akpabio and could not find anywhere he made such comments about Northerners.
We also discovered that there is no full report attached to the graphic of the comment being attributed to the Senate President. Also, those circulating the graphics did not state when Akpabio and where he the comment.
This is an indication that this comment is fabricated.
On Wednesday, FACTWATCH Nigeria cited Akpabio’s petition to the Department of State Services (DSS) over the circulation of the anti-North comment.
In the petition to the DSS, signed by his Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, Akpabio urged the agency to urgently investigate the alleged creation and coordinated dissemination of what he described as a false, inflammatory and divisive statement attributed to him.
Akpabio, denied making the statement, saying there was no evidence to authenticate it.
Verdict
Findings have indicated that there are no details of where and when Akpabio made the comment or any video evidence to authenticate it.
The Senate President, while petitioning the DSS, has denied making the comment.
Therefore, the claim that Akpabio made the comment is FALSE as the graphic is fabricated.
