Nigerian Senate President Godswill Akpabio has finally addressed rumours attributed to his recent collapse at his birthday event.
Speaking to reporters at the Senate on Friday in his office, Senator Akpabio attributed the alleged collapse to a combination of malaria and exhaustion.
He confirmed that he had been diagnosed with malaria after the December 7th colloquium held in Abuja.
He also downplayed the incident, describing it as a “show of humanity”and attributing it to fatigue compounded by the stress of the event.
“What eventually happened after the event was a show of humanity. I went home and I called my doctors and I was assured that I have malaria, mingled with stress, which could also be described in another way as exhaustion. In fact, anybody could be exhausted. Please, drink water daily so that you don’t get exhausted. This is to say that the work goes on. I want to assure Nigerians that the National Assembly is intact and we are still going on with our duty, our appropriation,”Senator Akpabio said.
Senator Akpabio assured Nigerians that the Senate remains operational and on schedule to pass the national budget before the end of the year.
Finalise their work
The Nigerian Senate President confirmed the resumption of legislative activities on December 20th and also said committees needed to finalise their work before the deadline.
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President of the Senate, debunked rumours on the fringes of decency to the effect that Senator Akpabio collapsed during the Colloquium that complemented activities marking his 61st birthday.
In a sharp rebuttal of the reports, HonourabAkpabioiboh said that the rumours and reports were fictionalised extensions of the Senate President’s assertion of being tired at the end of the programme.
“The rumours which have come to our notice through word of mouth from concerned and patriotic stakeholders have been fanned by some social media news channels with notoriety for the dissemination of phony newsflashes. It was especially disconcerting that the conjectures on the wellbeing of the Senate President came after he was celebrated by the crème-de-crème of the nation’s leadership across all sectors at the Colloquium that was focused on defining a legislative agenda for national development”
Escapade of friction
“Senator Akpabio spoke on his feet for more than 30 minutes as he gave the expose of his trajectory in a way as never before. As the programme ended and President Bola Tinubu left the Transcorp Hotel venue, Senator Akpabio’s expression to some of those around him that he was tired was escalated to a fainting spell or collapse. In their thrilling escapade of fiction, some more adventurous purveyors of untruth even claimed that he is presently hospitalised and in a critical condition in the National Hospital, Abuja.”
He firmly declared that besides saying he was exhausted in the hearing of those around him that he was certainly not rushed in a stretcher to the national hospital or indisposed.
Eyiboh said Akpabio was not rushed to the National Hospital.