“North Must Vote for Tinubu or Be Expelled From Nigeria” — Senate Speaks on Akpabio Claim

The Office of the President of the Senate has dismissed claims that Senate President Godswill Akpabio threatened northerners over the 2027 presidential election.

The reaction followed the circulation of a viral video alleging that Akpabio warned that the North must support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the next election or risk being expelled from the country.

The Senate President’s office described the allegation as false and dangerous. It said the claim was deliberately fabricated to create tension and mislead Nigerians ahead of the political activities leading to 2027.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by Akpabio’s Special Adviser on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations, Jibril Tafida, the Senate President denied ever making such remarks.

“We wish to state clearly and unequivocally that the President of the Senate never made such a statement. This claim is completely false, malicious, and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and create unnecessary tension,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the viral content was part of a wider attempt to drag the name of the Senate President into political controversy and stir ethnic division in the country.

The Senate President’s office also called on security agencies to immediately investigate the matter and arrest Garus Gololo, the individual featured in the circulating video.

“We therefore call on the security agencies in Nigeria to arrest Garus Gololo immediately and compel him to provide evidence of where and when the President of the Senate made such a statement,” the statement added.

The statement further condemned what it described as repeated insults and disrespectful comments directed at Akpabio and other public officials.

It warned that the increasing spread of misinformation and inflammatory political content could threaten national unity if left unchecked.

The Senate President’s office also accused Gololo of consistently attacking President Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress for political reasons.

“Garus Gololo has developed a pattern of insulting President Bola Tinubu and the APC in order to satisfy his paymasters in the name of opposition politics. This must stop,” the statement said.

The office urged Nigerians, especially people in the northern region, to ignore the allegation and avoid statements capable of creating ethnic or political tension across the country.