The South-South Zonal chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Sunday gave social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly called 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 advising him to distinguish between activism and slander, the APC also warned him against targeting the former Akwa Ibom governor again in the future.
Blessing Agbomhere, the South-South APC’s Zonal Organising Secretary, issued the warning in a statement in Abuja.
Agbomhere was responding to the social media sensation’s blistering verbal attack on Akpabio for leading a five-member federal government delegation to Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican last Saturday.
In the three-minute viral video, VeryDarkMan described Akpabio’s presence in Rome as shameful’, claiming that the Senate president lacked the moral standing to attend the Pope’s funeral when he should have paid a condolence visit to Benue, Plateau, Kwara, Ogun, Enugu, and other states plagued by killings.
However, the APC chief retaliated, accusing VeryDarkMan of calling the South-South politician insults 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 a 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.”
Agbomhere also urged Nigerians to disregard the social media influencer’s ‘uninformed ranting’.
According to him, the current administration is working tirelessly behind the scenes to address the widespread insecurity in 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.
