On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central in the Nigerian Senate, filed a lawsuit against Senate President Godswill Akpabio for defamation.
The controversy began after Akpoti-Uduaghan resisted a seat reassignment triggered by opposition members switching to the majority wing. This disagreement escalated into a clash between the senator and Akpabio.
In the suit filed before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Akpoti-Uduaghan named Akpabio, the President of the Senate, and Mfon Patrick, a Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President, as defendants. The case, marked CV/737/25, claims that the Senate President and his aide published defamatory statements about Akpoti-Uduaghan. These statements were shared on Facebook with the title, “Is local content committee of the senate NATASHA’s BIRTHRIGHT,” and suggested that Akpoti-Uduaghan, despite being a lawmaker, was only concerned with her appearance, calling her out for “pancaking her face” and wearing “transparent outfits” in the Senate.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyer, Victor Giwa, argued that the statements were harmful, demeaning, and damaging to her reputation in the eyes of her colleagues and the public.
As part of her legal action, Akpoti-Uduaghan is seeking several declarations, including one that the statements made by the third defendant (Mfon Patrick) were defamatory and intended to harm her public image. She also requested an order of perpetual injunction to prevent the defendants from publishing defamatory statements about her on any platform.
Furthermore, Akpoti-Uduaghan is demanding N100 billion in damages and N300 million to cover the costs of the lawsuit.
At the time of the filing, no date had been set for the hearing of the case, as it had not yet been assigned to a judge.
