The rift between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan deepened on Friday after Akpabio filed a fresh N200 billion defamation lawsuit against the Kogi lawmaker.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, confirmed receiving the court documents in a post on her social media pages, where she also shared a copy of the suit filed before Justice U. P. Kekemeke of the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
In the suit, Akpabio accused her of making “false, malicious and injurious” allegations depicting him as a “sexual predator,” claims he said have subjected him to “public hatred, contempt and ridicule.”
The Senate President is seeking substantial monetary damages, public retractions and broadcast apologies across major media platforms.
The court had on November 6 granted an order for substituted service after bailiffs were unable to serve Akpoti-Uduaghan personally, with the documents eventually delivered through the Clerk of the National Assembly.
However, the legal action has opened an unexpected opportunity for the Kogi senator, who said she is “ready for full trial,” adding that she finally has a chance to present allegations she claimed the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges declined to hear.
“Now, I am glad that Akpabio has brought this up,” she wrote. “The Ethics Committee declined to hear me on the grounds that his wife had filed a defamation suit, so they couldn’t handle a matter already before the court.
“Yet I couldn’t proceed to court because Senate rules require me to first present my case to that same committee.
“At last, I now have a chance to prove how I was sexually harassed and how my refusal to give in to his demands unleashed unprecedented attacks on my person. See you in court, Godswill Akpabio.”
Her posts immediately reignited public debate, with political watchers describing the development as an unprecedented clash between the head of the National Assembly and a sitting senator.
The rift stretches back months. In March, Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months after objecting to the relocation of her seat during plenary, a move she claimed was targeted at silencing her.
She accused Akpabio of running the Senate with an iron fist and once publicly labelled him a “dictator.”
Although her suspension formally expired in September, she was unable to return to the chamber immediately due to what she called internal resistance from Senate leadership.
Her sealed office was eventually reopened by Sergeant-at-Arms officials, and she resumed without offering any apology.
