Concerns raised on social media regarding the health of Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, have been firmly dismissed by his media aide, who described the reports as false and misleading.
The clarification was given by Kenny Okolugbo, the Consultant on Communications and Strategy to the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, during an interview on Morning Brief, a current affairs programme aired on Channels Television, a major privately owned television network based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Okay News reports that Okolugbo stated clearly that the Senate President, who leads Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber known as the National Assembly Senate, is in good health and continues to carry out his official responsibilities without interruption.
According to him, the physical presence of Akpabio at official legislative sessions and public engagements already provides sufficient proof that the circulating claims are unfounded.
“The Senate President is very healthy. You saw him; he has been attending sessions, and that answers the question,” Okolugbo said during the interview.
He further explained that similar misinformation had recently targeted Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who oversees Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. Okolugbo noted that despite claims suggesting the Minister was incapacitated, Wike appeared publicly the following day, commissioning government projects and participating in live media programmes.
“Even Minister Wike was affected by similar rumours. One day they said he was in a coma or had suffered a stroke, and the next day he was commissioning projects and appeared on a live programme,” he added.
The aide also expressed concern over the growing spread of unverified information online, calling for stronger regulation of social media platforms to protect the public from misinformation.
“We must regulate social media. Everybody is a publisher online, but they do not seem to understand that the law prohibits sharing information you are not sure of,” Okolugbo warned.
The response followed claims published earlier in the week by SaharaReporters, an online investigative news platform, which alleged that Akpabio had collapsed and was flown to London, United Kingdom, aboard a private jet for medical treatment.
The report further claimed that the alleged health incident prevented the Senate President from attending official duties, including the interactive session on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, a key fiscal planning document presented by Nigeria’s executive arm of government to the legislature.
No official institution has corroborated the claims, and the Senate President has continued to be seen engaging in public and legislative activities.
