Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has initiated legal action against Senate President Godswill Akpabio for alleged defamation.
According to reports from The PUNCH, Akpoti-Uduaghan became concerned after her Senate seat was reassigned following a reshuffle triggered by opposition members shifting to the majority wing. She resisted this move, which led to a confrontation with Akpabio.
In a lawsuit filed on 25 February 2025 at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Akpoti-Uduaghan named Akpabio, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Mfon Patrick, a Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President, as defendants.
In the suit, marked CV/737/25, Akpoti-Uduaghan, through her attorney Victor Giwa, claims that defamatory statements were made by the Senate President and posted by his aide on Facebook.
The post, titled “Is the Local Content Committee of the Senate Natasha’s Birthright?” contained a statement that suggested Akpoti-Uduaghan believed being a legislator was simply about “pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the chambers.”
Giwa argued that these remarks were disparaging, provocative, and harmful to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s reputation among her peers and the public.
He stated, “We seek a declaration that the words, ‘It is bottled anger by the Kogi lawmaker, who knows nothing about legislative rules. She thinks being a lawmaker is all about pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the chambers,’ written by the third defendant at the prompting of the first and second defendants, are defamatory and intended to cause public shame and hostility toward the claimant.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan is also requesting the court to issue an injunction preventing the defendants and their associates from making any further defamatory statements about her on any platform.
She is seeking an order for the defendants to pay N100 billion in general damages and N300 million to cover litigation costs.
“An order for the payment of N100,000,000,000 as general damages and an order for the payment of N300,000,000 as the cost of the action,” she requested in the suit.
Punch
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