By Kingston Magare 4.11.2025
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Tuesday morning had a row with Nigerian Immigration officials who attempted to stop her from flying out of the country.
Broadcasting live on Facebook from the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport Abuja, the Senator representing Kogi Central was seen urging immigration officials to hand over her passport and in turn they told her “Sorry we have orders not let you travel.”
“Have I committed any offence? Why are you withholding my passport?” Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan inquired.
“Having completed my second-year celebration, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport, and my passport has been withheld again.”
“The last time this happened, the officer said Senator Godswill Akpabio instructed them to prevent me from travelling. He said each time I travel; I smear the country’s image through international interviews.
“This is wrong. There was no order. Yes, I know I have two federal government cases against me, of which the President of Nigeria instructed the AGF to cancel the cases, to withdraw the cases.
“The President actually spoke with Akpabio to terminate all the cases against me because he admitted, he agreed that they were politically witch-hunting cases. So, there is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the international airport. There is no reason why.”
The helpless immigration officials looked on as Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan vent out her frustrations. They tried to calm her down as she continued.
“You have no right to withhold my passport or deny me exit from my country. I have committed no offence, and this must stop.
“I think I have to sue you for continuously embarrassing me. You can’t keep doing this every time.”
Minutes after the confrontation, one of the officers eventually returned her passport.
“Can I have my passport, please? Thank you very much. Sometimes you just have to be a rebel to get things right. If I had not gone public, would you have given me my passport?” the senator asked.
The Senate president Godswill Akpabio who Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan had a long feud with did not comment nor did the Ministry of Inter Affairs.
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is currently facing separate cases of alleged criminal defamation and cybercrime before the FCT High Court and the Federal High Court, Abuja, a fall out of her suspension for six months from the Senate.
The case comes up on November 24, 2025.