The Senate President`s wife, Mrs. Ekaette Unoma Godswill Akpabio, has made good her threat of suing Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi State) over the allegations of sexual impropriety against her husband.
Mrs Akpabio on Friday, while reacting to remarks made by Senator Natasha in an Arise TV interview, threatened to sue the Kogi lawmaker for the allegations, as she called them a “figment of wild imaginations.”
Recall, Senator Natasha had on Friday during a live broadcast by Arise TV where she was a guest, accused the Senate President of sexually victimising her.
She also linked the change of seating arrangements in the Red Chamber during which she publicly refused to a new seat, to her refusal to concede to Akpabio’s alleged amorous advances.
According to her, the Senate President began the supposed move in 2023, and has since followed it up with threats, and unhealthy midnight calls.
Natasha further alleged that on a certain occasion Akpabio had employed the help of the Leader of the House, Senator Michael Opeyemi (APC Ekiti Central) “who I have great respect for because he is a gentle man” to call her at some time past midnight.
Following this, Mrs Akpabio while speaking to newsmen on Friday, recounted the cordial relationship that existed between her family and Senator Natasha’s family, as she dismissed the allegations as a figment of wild imaginations.
She slammed Natasha’s allegations as unfounded, saying that the lawmaker was present at her family residence on the alleged date 8th December, 2023.
According to the Senate President`s wife, both families enjoyed “a long-standing cordial relationship that predates Senator Natasha’s marriage to her husband.”
Mrs. Akpabio praised her husband’s discipline as a man, insisting that he loves and respects his family, even she cited his track record of supporting women’s inclusion in government, adding that this has been going on even before his emergence as Senate President.
Mrs. Akpabio urged women to desist from peddling such false allegations, as she vowed to seek legal redress on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Senate President`s wife has filed multiple lawsuits at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, against Senator Natasha.
The suits alleged a breach of fundamental rights and defamation stemming from statements made by the Senator during a televised interview on Arise News.
In the fundamental rights suit (Suit No: CV/814/25), brought under Section 34(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 4 & 5 of The African Charter on Human And Peoples Rights (Ratification And Enforcement Act) Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, Mrs. Akpabio seeks:
She further sought a declaration that the allegations made by the respondent on the floor of the Senate on the 20th of February 2025 and her subsequent scandalous and salacious allegations on Arise News TV constitute a flagrant violation of the fundamental rights of the Applicant as guaranteed under Section 34 (1) (A) of the 1999 Constitution.
According to the suit, Natasha also violated Article 4 & 5 of The African Charter on Human And Peoples Rights (Ratification And Enforcement Act) Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and Section 14 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015.
Mrs Akpabio equally sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondent from making further inciteful, scandalous, and spiteful statements that have caused the Applicant and her children emotional and psychological abuse and living under constant threat and fear of their lives.
She also asked the court to grant an order of perpetual injunction restraining the “respondent, whether by themselves, their agents, privies, or whosoever from further inciteful, scandalous, and spiteful statements that have caused the Applicant and her children emotional and psychological abuse and living under constant threat and fear of their lives or in any other manner infringing on their fundamental rights.
An order awarding the sum of N250,000,000,000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Billion Naira only) as exemplary, punitive, aggravated and general damages against the respondent for her infringement of the fundamental rights of the Applicant alongside such further or other orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance.”
Additionally, in a separate defamation lawsuit (Suit No: CV/816/25), Mrs. Akpabio seeks, “A declaration that the defendant’s act of claiming on national television, that the Claimant’s husband, who is the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria made sexual advances at her, without any proof of same, has damaged the reputation of the Claimant and indeed her entire family, bringing them into disrepute and opprobrium.
“An order of this honourable court mandating the Defendant to issue a formal written retraction of the defamatory words and tender an unconditional apology to the claimant and her family, to be published in 2 (two) nationally-read newspapers to wit: The Guardian and This Day Newspapers.
“An order of this honourable court compelling the Defendant to pay to the claimant the sum of ₦1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira only) as punitive and exemplary damages for the ruinous effect of the Defendant’s defamatory words on the Claimant’s family’s reputation.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant from further uttering any defamatory words or causing to be uttered or spread, any defamatory words against the reputation of the Claimant’s family.
Any further or ancillary order or other orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance.”
