IN SHORT: Several online posts claim that Nigeria’s senate president, Godswill Akpabio, is ill and has been hospitalised in London, UK. But Akpabio has confirmed he is in good health.
Rumours about the health of Nigerian political leaders often spread quickly, possibly because of the country’s history of secrecy around the health of public officials. For instance, in 2010 then-president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died after months of speculation about his health.
In August 2025 several posts circulating on Facebook in Nigeria claim that senate president Godswill Akpabio has been hospitalised in London in the United Kingdom.
Akpabio holds the third-highest political office after the president and vice president.
One Facebook post reads: “Senate President hospitalized in a London Hospital.”
Similar versions of the claim have been shared here and here. (Note: See other instances of the claim at the end of this report.)
But is this claim accurate? We checked.
Senate president dismisses ill-health rumour
There has been no official statement from the senate or Akpabio’s office confirming any illness, and no credible media outlet has reported that he was unwell or hospitalised.
On the contrary, multiple news reports confirm that Akpabio returned to Nigeria from London in mid-August and addressed journalists at the airport, where he dismissed the ill-health rumour.
Akpabio said he was “fit as a fiddle”, explaining that he only stopped over in London for a brief vacation after attending the sixth world conference of speakers of parliament in Geneva, Switzerland at the end of July.
On 18 August, he also shared photos on his official X handle showing his arrival back in Nigeria.
His account was supported by Gbenga Daniel, chairperson of the senate committee on the navy, who told the media he met with Akpabio in London and confirmed he was not hospitalised.
The false claim was circulated here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
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