JUST IN: Senate President, Akpabio information Recent N200 Billion Lawsuit in opposition to Natasha
Nigeria’s political scene was plunged into contemporary controversy on Friday after Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio, filed a ₦200 billion defamation go well with in opposition to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan over allegations of sexual harassment.
The go well with, lodged on the Excessive Courtroom of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), accuses Akpoti-Uduaghan of orchestrating a reputational onslaught via a collection of tv appearances and on-line interviews by which she alleged that Akpabio sexually harassed her.
Within the courtroom papers, Akpabio’s authorized workforce described the senator’s media engagements as a “deliberate and malicious marketing campaign” designed to tarnish his picture earlier than Nigerians and the worldwide group. They argued that the interviews, which had been extensively shared throughout broadcast and digital platforms, uncovered the Senate President to “nationwide humiliation, ridicule and grave reputational harm.”
Past the ₦200 billion in damages, Akpabio is asking the courtroom for wide-ranging orders:
- The elimination of all on-line content material containing the allegations,
- Public retractions, and
- Repeated apologies to be broadcast on main tv, radio, and digital shops.
The filings additionally reveal that the case had stalled initially because of difficulties in serving Akpoti-Uduaghan personally. This prompted Akpabio’s attorneys to strategy the courtroom for go away to serve her via different means. On 6 November 2025, a choose granted an order for substituted service by way of the Clerk of the Nationwide Meeting, successfully clearing procedural hurdles and permitting the matter to maneuver ahead.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, in a response on Friday, confirmed that she had obtained the courtroom processes and made it clear she isn’t backing down. She recalled that she beforehand sought to formally current a petition earlier than the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges however was blocked on the grounds {that a} related problem was already earlier than a courtroom. That call, she mentioned, gave cowl to the Senate President and prevented an inner probe.
“With this case in courtroom, I lastly have the discussion board I used to be denied within the Senate,” she mentioned in a strongly worded response. She maintained that she is ready to substantiate her accusations, insisting that she skilled sexual harassment and that her refusal to yield led to “sustained political intimidation and retaliation.”
Her message to Akpabio was blunt: “See you in courtroom, Godswill Akpabio.”