Nigerian Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan says she was shocked to discover through the media that the government had filed defamation charges against her. The charges stem from allegations she made earlier this year, accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello of plotting to kill her a claim both men have denied.
Speaking to the BBC, Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed dismay that she had not been formally served with legal papers. “I’m actually shocked. My first reaction when I read it is out of shock, because I have not been served until now. I had to read it on the news,” she said.
The defamation charges relate to comments she made during a live interview on Channels TV in which she alleged a conspiracy between Akpabio and Bello to eliminate her. Nigeria’s attorney general cited these statements, claiming they could damage the reputations of the two powerful political figures.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, however, stands by her claims. She maintains that she filed petitions with the police regarding threats to her life and believes the charges are a form of retaliation. “I was the one who ran to the police… Instead, it is the Senate President and former Governor Yahaya Bello’s counter-petition that is being attended to,” she remarked.
The senator believes the charges are meant to silence her, especially after she publicly accused Akpabio of sexual harassment in February an accusation he denies. Following that revelation, she was suspended from the Senate for six months without pay, a move critics say was designed to punish her for speaking out.
Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of only four women in Nigeria’s 109-member Senate, and her case has reignited conversations about gender inequality and the treatment of women in politics. She argues that society expects women to stay silent on issues like sexual harassment, saying, “Natasha is not supposed to speak about it. I’m supposed to bear it as a woman.”
No court date has been announced for the defamation case, but the controversy continues to draw national attention.
