Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has expressed shock after finding out through news reports that the Federal Government had filed a lawsuit against her.
She revealed that she has not yet received any court papers but has begun speaking with her legal team to understand the details of the charges and plan her next steps.
“I was honestly shocked. My first reaction when I read it was shock, because I haven’t even been served [with papers] till now. I had to read about it in the news, and I’m truly surprised that such an investigation has been going on,” the lawmaker told the BBC.
“I’m the one who wrote the petitions, and it’s troubling that they haven’t acted on them. Instead, they’re focusing on the counter-petition from the Senate President and former Governor Yahaya Bello, claiming I defamed them. Do you see the twist?” the lawmaker said.
“Sexual harassment is an evil that has been normalized in our society. But here I am speaking out about it. That was my first crime—speaking out against it. That’s my first offence against Nigerian society, against a powerful Nigerian man. Natasha wasn’t supposed to talk about it. I was supposed to endure it quietly as a woman,” she said.
The case was filed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation over comments she made during a television interview on April 3, 2025.
In the interview, Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello of plotting to kill her.
She also claimed she had earlier reported threats to her life to the police, naming both men, but said her petitions were ignored.
The Federal Government is charging her with defamation.
The charge sheet lists three separate counts—two relating to Akpabio and one to Yahaya Bello.
It states that the senator made allegations that could damage their reputations, and that she either knew or should have known the effects of her words.
One of the charges claimed that she accused both men of meeting at a hotel in March to plan her death, not in Abuja but in Kogi.
Another charge points to her saying the Senate President wanted to replace her with another candidate ahead of the 2027 elections.
The third allegation refers to a phone interview where she reportedly claimed Akpabio used the organs of a deceased young woman to treat his wife.
Six witnesses are expected to testify when the case begins.
These include Akpabio, Yahaya Bello, two other senators, and two officers from the police unit that investigated the case.
The charge sheet was filed on May 15, 2025, but the case has not yet been assigned to a judge, and no date has been set for the trial.
