Politics
Senator Natasha’s many controversies, and fight against male prejudice
Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan, the Senator representing Kogi Central at the Senate is a woman of the moment, with two concurrent issues involving her the Senate dominating the news these couple of weeks. Upper week, she had a spat with Godswill Akpabio, the Senate president over altered sitting arrangements, which has ultimately led to her suspension for six weeks without benefits. However, the issue has snowballed into a bigger and more serious controversy.
The rift between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan began following a recent seat reallocation in the red chamber.
Akpoti-Uduaghan firmly resisted her new seat placement after the rearrangement, claiming the move was intended to stifle her voice. Thereafter, she accused Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
Fallout of the accusations
Nigeria’s Senate will have to make do with three women in the Senate after the time bound suspension of Natasha. Her claim was denied by the Senate Ethics Committee.
In a social media post, the controversial senator dubbed her suspension “unjust,” saying it “invalidates the principles of natural justice, fairness and equity.” She is one of just four female senators in Nigeria.
Akpoti Uduaghan claimed the Senate president would only agree to move her motions forward if she provided him sexual favours.
Speaking at Arise TV, she quoted Akpabio as telling her, “You can enjoy a whole lot if you take care of me and make me happy.”
Akpabio has denied the allegations. She subsequently filed suit against the Senate president, demanding N100 billion in damages.
Activists push back
Natasha’s suspension came just two days before the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8. Women’s groups have been criticizing the Senate’s decision. It was a “stunning display of patriarchal impunity,” said Mabel Adinya Ade, founder of a Nigerian women’s rights group.
“The message is chilling: speak out, and you will be punished,” she added.
Chioma Agqwuegbo, executive director of another women’s rights group, said the Senate’s Ethics committee “has shown that it is not fit for purpose.”
According to the Nigerian Policy and Legal Advocacy Center, the ratio of women to men in government is at a record low.
Not new to controversy
In the weeks following her election as Senator-Elect of Kogi Central, Natasha had accused the Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello without evidence of a plot to maim her during the senatorial race that occurred in March 2023. She made the claim on a television show.
“I heard guns; I heard his henchmen shoot at my vehicle; I have video evidence of that,” she said.
“It was the immediate pas governor; they were adorned in APC shirts and one of them was Amoka; he was actually the returning officer for Okehi local government. He led the group of 10 men to shoot at me; I have the video captured in that.
“He said this is the beauty of politics; this is not the beauty of politics. You don’t endanger people, you don’t set out to kill people, you don’t destroy properties, and you don’t frustrate the electoral process just because you want your candidate to win and call it ‘the beauty of democracy’,” she said this of the governor.
The Bello accusations may be just a reminder of her accusatory genie that first surfaced during the Jonathan era.
Former presidential media aide, Reno Omokri, has claimed that he was once a victim of Natasha’s fascination with and penchant for accusing high profile Nigerians of sexual harassment. He has challenged Natasha to undergo a lie detector test following her allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Omokri, in a detailed video posted on social media, revealed that Akpoti-Uduaghan made similar allegations against him in 2021.
He said: “On Tuesday, October 12, 2021, Natasha Akpoti had a dispute with me and after the dispute, she went on social media and accused me of sexually harassing her.
“She claimed that at a state banquet at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, held by President Goodluck Jonathan for the visiting Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, May 6th 2014, I had sexually harassed her.
“Now, the thing is, a month before, the Chibok girls had been abducted, and as one of his presidential spokesmen, President Jonathan sent me to the United States as a special envoy to try to clean up Nigeria’s image. I left in April and I wasn’t back in Nigeria until the end of May. So, obviously, Natasha Akpoti lied.
“So, what I did, I went on social media and I published my passport stamp, with my passport leaving Nigeria, and then, entering the United States, showing the stamps, and I also published a first-class British Airways ticket showing that I left Nigeria for the United Kingdom, and from the United Kingdom to the United States, and I wasn’t in Nigeria throughout the time when Natasha Akpoti accused me. So, she obviously lied.
“So what happened is that after the newspapers published my evidence, Natasha deleted all traces of her accusation. She deleted everything. She had made a video insulting me, my wife and my newborn daughter. She also deleted that.
“The next day, I got a phone call from a prominent Christian clergyman and they felt that as a fellow pastor, I would listen to a senior member of the body of Christ. He called me on three-way with Emmanuel Oritshejolomi Uduaghan, Natasha Akpoti’s present husband.
“They appealed to me, they quoted the scriptural references about Christians taking each other to court and I listened to them and we settled the matter out of court. I was paid a large amount of money as damages, and I let the matter go.
“So, fast forward to four years later, Natasha Akpoti had a dispute with the Senate President. After that dispute, she went on Arise TV and accused him of sexual harassment. It sounds like deja vu.
“The thing is, I do not know if those allegations are true. But one thing I know is that Natasha Akpoti is a liar, a known liar. So, here’s the thing. The best predictor of future behaviour is past behavior.
Omokri said before Nigerians crucify Akpabio, Akpoti-Uduaghan should be compelled to take a lie detector test.
“Come out. Take the test. You know, be escorted by one senator that is in your support and another senator that is just objective,” he said.
“Until she takes a lie detector test, the presumption is that she is acting on her past behavior,” he concluded.
Peter Nwaebonyi, deputy chief whip of the senate, added a chiller that looks like Natasha is a serial accuser. He says Natasha has a history of making “reckless and false allegations of sexual harassment against prominent figures”.
Nwaebonyi said the sexual harassment allegations tabled by Natasha against Senate President Godswill Akpabio is a desperate attempt to divert attention from legitimate disciplinary proceedings.
On February 25, the senate referred Akpoti-Uduaghan to the committee on ethics, privileges, and public petitions for disciplinary review.
The issue came to a head on Friday when Akpoti-Uduaghan accused the senate president of attempting to make sexual advances toward her in his office and home.
The allegation triggered responses from prominent Nigerians, including a lawsuit by Ekaette Akpabio, the senate president’s wife, while others demanded an investigation into the claims.
Saraki’s intervention
Bukola Saraki, former senate president, who voiced his concern in the controversy, said the senate Ethics committee must conduct a transparent probe of the allegations.
Saraki added that “both parties must submit to the investigation, fully cooperate with the committee, and stake their claims before it.”
Reacting to the controversy, Nwaebonyi said Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claims were “politically motivated” and aimed at manipulating public sentiment.
He claimed that her allegations surfaced only after she was summoned for disciplinary action, questioning why no prior complaints were made within the senate or to female colleagues.
The lawmaker acknowledged Saraki’s call for transparency and protection but found the comparison between his experience and current allegations against Akpabio “flawed.”
“In Saraki’s case, the matter revolved around his official duties as Senate President— specifically, an accusation concerning the importation of an official vehicle,” Nwaebonyi said.
“The claim was factually incorrect, and Saraki, knowing this, subjected himself to scrutiny to clear his name. It was an administrative and procedural issue directly tied to his office, and a swift resolution through the Senate Ethics Committee restored confidence in the institution.
“In contrast, what we have before us today is a case of personal, unsubstantiated, and conveniently timed accusations— claims of sexual harassment that supposedly took place over a year ago but surfaced only after the accuser was summoned for disciplinary action.
The Bamidele saga
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, also accused Natasha of lying. He has denied allegations by her that he threatened to make her “go down” if the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, “goes down” through criticisms from her supporters.
Mr. Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District, admitted that he called Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan on the phone at the time she stated, but that he made the call as an attempt to reconcile her with Akpabio following the controversy surrounding his “nightclub” remark the senate president made in July 2024.
He spoke on the issue during last Thursday’s plenary when senators debated Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
“I listened to distinguished Senator Natasha on Arise News and I am saying to all my distinguished colleagues that I have no regrets about what she said about me. She said I called her at exactly 13 minutes past 12 midnight, I have no regrets. Everyone of you know it is characteristic of my own leadership role to try to reconcile everybody,” he said.
Fayemi too
Former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, has also denied media reports suggesting that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan had accused him of sexual harassment.
The controversy arose after a report stated that Senator Cyril Fasuyi, representing Ekiti North, claimed that Akpoti-Uduaghan previously accused Fayemi of sexual harassment during Wednesday’s plenary. However, Fayemi’s media office clarified that Fasuyi never made such a statement.
In a statement by head of Fayemi’s media office, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, the former governor denied reports that Akpoti-Uduaghan had once accused him of sexual harassment.
The statement said, “We wish to categorically state that this report is inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the actual comments made by the Distinguished Senator from Ekiti. Upon reviewing the proceedings, it is evident that Senator Fasuyi never made such an allegation.
“Instead, what he actually stated was that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had, in the past, made false and defamatory claims against Dr. Fayemi when he served as Minister of Mines and Steel Development, specifically, regarding issues related to the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
“At no point did Senator Fasuyi link Dr. Fayemi to any allegations of sexual misconduct by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.”
Sajoh added, “For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to reiterate that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan – or anyone else, for that matter – has never accused Dr. Fayemi of any form of sexual misconduct.”
Natasha Hadiza Akpoti- Uduaghan was born on 9 December 1979 to a Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother.
She was educated at the University of Abuja and oversea. She is a lawyer by profession.
