Senate President Godswill Akpabio has instituted a fresh ₦200 billion defamation lawsuit against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central, escalating tensions within the 10th Senate.
Akpoti-Uduaghan disclosed the development in a Facebook post on Friday, attaching court documents filed before Justice U. P. Kekemeke of the Federal High Court, Abuja, under suit number FCT/HC/CV/3356/2025.
She said the case would finally give her an opportunity to present her account before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, which had previously declined to hear her complaint.
In the suit, Akpabio accused his colleague of making “false, malicious, and injurious” allegations that painted him as a sexual predator, exposing him to public ridicule and contempt. The Senate President, who is also a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, is seeking damages, public retractions, and nationwide broadcast apologies.
The court had earlier, on November 6, ordered substituted service after bailiffs failed to serve Akpoti-Uduaghan directly, with the documents eventually routed through the Clerk of the National Assembly.
Reacting on social media, Akpoti-Uduaghan confirmed receipt of the suit and declared her readiness for trial. “I now have a chance to prove how I was sexually harassed and how my refusal to give in to his demands unleashed a series of unprovoked attacks on my person. See you in court, Godswill Akpabio,” she wrote.
Her response reignited debate over the deepening rift in the Senate, with observers describing the lawsuit as one of the most significant confrontations between a Senate President and a sitting colleague in recent memory.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months in March 2025 after protesting the relocation of her seat during plenary. She has repeatedly accused Akpabio of targeting her, once branding him a “dictator.” Though her suspension expired in September, she faced delays in resuming due to legal hurdles and internal resistance from Senate leadership. Her office was eventually reopened by the Sergeant-at-Arms, after which she returned defiantly, insisting she had “no apology to tender.”
