Akpabio denies collapse at birthday colloquium, attributes incident to malaria and exhaustion

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has refuted reports suggesting he collapsed during his 61st birthday colloquium in Abuja on Thursday. Akpabio clarified that he experienced exhaustion and a bout of malaria, as diagnosed by doctors, dismissing claims of a collapse.

Eseme Eyiboh, Special Adviser on Media to Akpabio, had earlier dismissed the reports of the Senate President’s hospitalization, emphasizing that he went home after the colloquium.

Addressing reporters at the National Assembly on Friday, Senator Akpabio explained, “I have been reading on social media the propaganda about my collapse, but I’m happy the Senate Press Corps did not join in the show of propaganda.”

He continued, “I went home and I called my doctors, and I was told that I had a bit of malaria, mingled with stress. The stress 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.”

Akpabio reassured Nigerians that the National Assembly is functioning as usual, and the appropriation bill is progressing. He stated, “We will resume on December 20, but before then, the various committees must have finished their work to enable us to meet the target to pass the budget before the end of the year for the President to append his signature.”