The South-South Zonal chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday gave popular social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, otherwise known as VeryDarkMan, one week to tender an apology to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, over the manner he disparaged him in his latest video.
While urging him to draw a line between activism and slander, the APC also admonished him against going after the former Akwa Ibom governor again in future.
The warning was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Zonal Organizing Secretary of the South-South APC, Blessing Agbomhere.
Agbomhere was reacting to the social media sensation’s scathing verbal attack at Akpabio for leading a five-man federal government delegation to the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican last Saturday.
In the three-minute viral video, VeryDarkMan described Akpabio’s presence in Rome as ‘shameful,’ insisting that the Senate president lacked the moral standing to attend the Pope’s funeral when he ought to be paying a condolence visit to Benue, Plateau, Kwara, Ogun, Enugu and other states currently bedevilled by killings.
But the APC chieftain kicked, accusing VeryDarkMan of calling the South-South politician names all in the name of activism.
He said, “VeryDarkMan is becoming notorious for blackmail, slander and character assassination while pretending to be an advocate for the masses and social crusader. The unwarranted verbal attack on the number three citizen of Nigeria who did not send himself to Rome but was duly nominated by the President to lead a delegation to represent Nigeria. What exactly is wrong with that?
“Being a devout Catholic and family man with unblemished character, President Tinubu saw in Akpabio a worthy ambassador of Nigeria to such an event as the Pope’s funeral and wasted no time in thrusting that responsibility on him. What is wrong with that?
“I am, with this statement, issuing VeryDarkMan a one-week ultimatum to immediately tender an unreserved apology to the Senate president for the slanderous comments and to desist from further bringing the integrity of the President Bola Tinubu led administration into disrepute in the eyes of the global community.”
Continuing, Agbomhere also urged Nigerians to ignore the ‘uninformed ranting’ of the social media influencer.
According to him, the current administration is working assiduously behind the scenes to tackle the pervasive insecurity across the country, which it inherited from previous administrations.
“Upon his return from France and the UK, Tinubu met with the security chiefs and during the meeting, he gave them marching orders to ensure that a different approach is deployed in the fight against insecurity. Does this sound like a man who is not serious about protecting the lives and property of Nigerians?
“Mind you, the complex security problems in the country cannot be wished away with a wave of the hand; it takes time to achieve a semblance of peace, and that is a commitment that the Tinubu-led administration made to Nigerians while assuming office and is still committed to achieving” the statement read.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
