Christy Akingboye, widow of the late SDP governorship candidate in the 2024 Ondo poll, Bamidele Akingboye, has accused her stepson of circulating a doctored photograph to falsely suggest she abused or killed her husband.
Breaking her silence in Lagos, Christy said the family had endured weeks of smear campaigns built around an AI-altered image purported to be her husband’s corpse. According to her, the fabricated picture—designed with blood stains and bruises—was pushed online to whip up anger, distort facts and trigger a murder narrative against her.
Displaying the original mortuary images, she insisted the late politician had no bruises, injuries or signs of violence. “The real pictures show a clean face. To my shock, they used AI to paint blood on him. That single fake picture demolished every attempt to preserve his dignity,” she said.
She alleged that the doctored image was circulated by her stepson, Samuel, whom she still refers to as her son, shortly after the tragedy. Instead of allowing the family to grieve or providing emotional support, she claimed he launched a campaign of blackmail, fabrications and media manipulation built around the altered picture.
Christy said she initially kept silent to protect her husband’s legacy and shield the family from stigma, but the spread of the fake image left her with no choice. She maintained that her husband battled bipolar manic disorder for five years, with episodes in Lagos, Abuja and Dubai requiring psychiatric intervention. “My daughter once stopped him from jumping off the balcony. In Dubai, the police took him straight to a psychiatric facility,” she said.
According to her, his condition deteriorated under political pressure, rising debts and sleepless nights. The late Akingboye, she said, feared creditors would report him to law-enforcement agencies and struggled with suicidal tendencies long before his final act. She deliberately concealed these episodes after his death, she said, to protect his memory.
Christy faulted the initial police response, alleging bias, poor evidence handling and a rush to arrest her and her children without examining his room, checking medical records or securing the scene. A fresh investigative team later visited the balcony and surrounding apartments, but by then, she said, crucial CCTV footage had already been overwritten because officers failed to act promptly.
Her concerns deepened when the case was returned to the original investigating unit. She described repeated summons and pressure to fit into a murder storyline—pressure she believes was fed by the viral doctored photograph.
She recounted how she and her children were escorted to Panti last Friday despite assurances they would not be detained. “Over 20 armed officers were waiting for us. If I hadn’t prepared my children outside, they would have panicked,” she said.
Christy questioned Samuel’s frequent visits to police formations even after being told the case had moved. “What is he going there to do every day?” she asked.
Narrating events before her husband’s death, Christy said he appeared deeply agitated on August 26, confessing that spiralling debts and threats from creditors had left him in fear. He transferred ₦130 million to Samuel, allegedly to avoid being reported. After she advised him to request a refund to restructure payments, he called Samuel on speakerphone to explain his intention.
She said the family later discovered they had been overcharged on a major facility and negotiated a reduction of a ₦1.2 billion claim to ₦75 million. “That was how we saved the house. It lifted his mood temporarily,” she said.
Christy urged authorities to rely on her husband’s medical records rather than online propaganda pushed through doctored images. “My hands are clean. God knows the truth. I loved my husband and stood by him. The fake picture destroyed everything, but the real evidence will speak,” she said.
