Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan who is representing Kogi Central at National Assembly has alleged that officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) seized her passport at an airport, preventing her from travelling out of the country.
The senator, who recently marked her second anniversary in the National Assembly with a series of project inauguration across Kogi Central, went live on Instagram to narrate her experience as the incident unfolded.
In the video, obtained on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that the seizure was carried out on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, describing the action as an “unlawful restriction of movement” and a violation of her fundamental rights.
“Hello, fellow Nigerians. I’m Senator Natasha. Having completed my second year in office, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport, and my passport has been withheld again,” she said in the live video.
She recalled that this was not the first time such an incident had occurred, alleging that she had previously been stopped from travelling despite having no pending charges or court order restricting her movement.
“The last time this happened, the officer told me that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, ordered that my passport be withheld because he claimed I was damaging the country’s image through my interviews with international media,” she alleged.
According to her, her passport was eventually released in that previous encounter only after the intervention of an influential figure.
She further claimed that President Bola Tinubu had already instructed the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to withdraw all pending government cases against her, questioning why her travel documents were still being seized.
“Godswill Akpabio has instructed the Controller General of Immigration to hold on to my passport. This is wrong,” she insisted.
However, reports later confirmed that her passport was eventually released by immigration officials.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Akpabio have had a strained relationship since their February 2025 dispute over Senate seat reallocation, which led to her six-month suspension from legislative duties on March 6, 2025. She was reinstated and resumed plenary on September 24, 2025.
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