By Samuel Ogunsona
The sleazy brawl between Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator representing Kogi Central, seems to be far from being resolved. In fact, it may get more salacious in the days and weeks ahead.
This is because the wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Unoma Akpabio, has thrown her hat into the ring, and instituted a law suit against her husband’s traducer, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, seeking N250 billion in damages over alleged defamation and emotional distress by the seat allocation saga.
The lawsuit comes after Akpoti-Uduaghan accused the Senate President of victimizing her in the Senate because she rejected his alleged sexual advances.
In an interview with Arise News TV, Akpoti-Uduaghan had claimed that Akpabio made multiple advances toward her, including one that reportedly took place in the presence of her husband.
She also alleged that Akpabio threatened her and made some midnight calls.
However, Mrs. Akpabio dismissed these allegations, stating that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was “lying and creating content for her personal gains.”
She therefore filed a fundamental rights suit at a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, seeks a declaration that the allegations made by Natasha violated Mrs. Akpabio’s fundamental rights.
She is also requesting a perpetual injunction preventing the Kogi Senator from making further “inciteful, scandalous, and spiteful statements” that she claims have caused emotional and psychological distress to her and her children.
In a separate defamation lawsuit, Mrs. Akpabio argues that Natasha’s claims on national television damaged her family’s reputation.
She is requesting a declaration that the allegations were made without proof and have brought her family “into disrepute and opprobrium.”
The lawsuit demands that Natasha issue a formal written retraction and an unconditional apology, to be published in The Guardian and This Day newspapers.
In addition, Mrs. Akpabio is seeking N1 billion in punitive and exemplary damages, as well as a perpetual injunction restraining Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan from making any further defamatory statements against her family.
The suit in brief:
In the fundamental rights case (Suit No: CV/814/25), filed under Section 34(1)(a) of the amended 1999 Constitution and Articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act) Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, Mrs. Akpabio is seeking:
“A DECLARATION that the allegations made by the Respondent on the floor of the Senate on the 20th of February 2025 and subsequent scandalous and salacious allegations on Arise News TV by the Respondent, constitute a flagrant violation of the fundamental rights of the Applicant guaranteed under Section 34(1) (A) of The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), Article 4 & 5 of The African Charter on Human And Peoples Rights (Ratification And Enforcement Act) Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and Section 14 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015.
“AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the Respondent from making further inciteful, scandalous, and spiteful statements that have caused the Applicant and her children emotional and psychological abuse and living under constant threat and fear of their lives.
“AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the Respondent, whether by themselves, their agents, privies, or whosoever from further inciteful, scandalous, and spiteful statements that have caused the Applicant and her children emotional and psychological abuse and living under constant threat and fear of their lives or in any other manner infringing on their fundamental rights.
“AN ORDER awarding the sum of N250,000,000,000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Billion Naira only) as exemplary, punitive, aggravated and general damages against the Respondent for her infringement of the fundamental rights of the Applicant alongside such further or other Orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance.”
In addition, Mrs. Akpabio is pursuing a separate defamation case (Suit No: CV/816/25) with specific objectives in mind.
“A DECLARATION that the Defendant’s act of claiming on national television, that the Claimant’s husband, who is the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria made sexual advances at her, without any proof of same, has damaged the reputation of the Claimant and indeed her entire family, bringing them into disrepute and opprobrium.
“AN ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT mandating the Defendant to issue a formal written retraction of the defamatory words and tender an unconditional apology to the Claimant and her family, to be published in 2 (two) nationally-read newspapers to wit: The Guardian and This Day Newspapers.
“AN ORDER OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT compelling the Defendant to pay to the Claimant the sum of ₦1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira only) as punitive and exemplary damages for the ruinous effect of the Defendant’s defamatory words on the Claimant’s family’s reputation.
“AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the Defendant from further uttering any defamatory words or causing to be uttered or spread, any defamatory words against the reputation of the Claimant’s family.
“ANY FURTHER OR ANCILLARY ORDER or other Orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance.”
And Natasha invites DSS…
This development is the latest in the ongoing saga between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan, with both parties standing by their respective claims.
However, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has taken a bold step, calling on the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to utilize their investigative tools to verify the voice calls made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
This move is aimed at substantiating her claims and proving the truth behind the allegations.
Senator Natasha seeks to uncover evidence of the alleged harassment and threats she claims to have received from Akpabio.