Senate Orders NSA Probe into Akpabio Health Rumors

The Nigerian Senate has officially directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to launch a comprehensive investigation into the origin and circulation of reports claiming that Senate President Godswill Akpabio suffered a life-threatening health emergency. The resolution, passed during a heated plenary session on Tuesday, seeks to unmask the individuals or groups behind the narrative that Akpabio had collapsed and was subsequently flown to a London hospital for urgent medical attention.

The legislative intervention followed a point of order raised by Senator Titus Zam, who represents Benue North-West. Senator Zam expressed deep concern over the “coordinated” spread of misinformation across various digital and social media platforms, describing the reports as not only false but a malicious attempt to destabilize the upper chamber and cause unnecessary panic within the polity. He argued that the growing trend of “digital character assassination” must be met with stiff legal consequences, urging the federal government to identify and prosecute those responsible to serve as a deterrent to other purveyors of “fake news.”

Presiding over the very session where his health was the subject of debate, a visibly composed Akpabio addressed the assembly, lamenting the systemic difficulties in regulating digital content in the modern era. He characterized much of the sensationalist output on certain social media platforms as “garbage in, garbage out,” noting that while the technology for communication has advanced, the ethics governing it have significantly regressed. Akpabio suggested that the anonymity provided by the internet has emboldened certain elements to weaponize falsehoods against public officials, making it increasingly difficult for the truth to catch up with widely shared fabrications.

The rumors, which gained significant traction over the weekend, alleged that the Senate President had suffered a sudden physical collapse during a private event and was surreptitiously moved abroad for treatment. These claims were swiftly rebuffed by Akpabio’s media aides, who dismissed the stories as “pure fiction” and provided evidence of the Senate President’s active involvement in local official duties during the period in question.

By involving the office of the National Security Adviser, the Senate is signaling that it views the deliberate spread of misinformation regarding the health of the country’s third-highest-ranking citizen as a matter of national security rather than a mere civil libel issue. The NSA is expected to collaborate with relevant cybercrime units and telecommunications agencies to trace the digital footprint of the initial reports. This move comes amid a broader national conversation regarding the regulation of social media and the balance between free speech and the prevention of digital anarchy.