Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District has dragged Senate president Godswill Akpabio to court claiming N100 billion damages in a defamation suit.
In the case filed an Abuja High Court, Senator Akpoti-Uuduaghan claimed that she has been defamed by a posted allegedly made on Facebook by an aide of the Senate president, Mfon Patrick who is also joined in the suit.
According to the Kogi Senator the post titled “Is Local Content Committee of the Senate NATASHA’s BIRTHRIGHT,” has maligned her.
She stated that post accused her of wearing transparent clothing and rubbing pancakes on her face when she is in the Senate Chambers. She argued that the post was provocative and disparaging, adding in the affidavit deposited before the court that Akpabio has put her “under series of pressure in distracting” her “from carrying out her legislative functions in her capacity as a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
She added that Akpabio “has deliberately and without any justifiable reason, meted out disparaging comments and taken steps and action that demean the character and reputation of the claimant (herself).
“The claimant avers that sometimes in February 2025, the claimant arrived into the chamber of the Senate for the sitting of the Senate, only to discover that her seat had been reassigned to another Senator without her notice, consent or information.
“The claimant avers that she was embarrassed by the action and the incident and the claimant’s attempt to draw the attention of the 1st defendant (Akpabio) to the situation was vehemently resisted and refused by the first defendant in an open session of the Senate.
The Claimant avers that the first defendant, rather than addressing the claimant’s complaint on the reassignment of her seat, ordered the sergeant at arm to pull away the claimant from the seat and her position in the chambers.
“The claimant avers that the action of the first defendant as the second defendant (the Senate) is unparliamentary, disparaging and unbecoming of a Senator and capable of lowering the esteem and reputation of the claimant in the eyes of her colleagues and right-thinking members of the society.
“The claimant further avers that while the public outcry was raging against the incident in the Senate and the action of first defendant against the claimant, the first defendant caused the third defendant (Patrick) to make defamatory publications against the claimant on his Facebook page.
“The claimant avers that the third defendant, acting under the authority and as an agent of the first defendant, published the said defamatory statement and comment against the claimant on his (third defendant’s) Facebook page.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan is praying the court for among others, a declaration that the words “it is a 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” allegedly used and written by the third defendant, purportedly at the prompting of the first and second defendants (Akpabio and the Senate) “is defamatory and intended to cause public opprobrium and disaffection towards the claimant by members of the public.”
