Taiwo Popoola
Suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has declared that only the court of law can prevail on her to provide evidence of her sexual harassment allegations against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Natasha was responding to Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, who demanded that she retract her sexual harassment allegation against Akpabio because it lacked substance.
Agbakoba, a lead counsel to Akpabio, issued a second formal letter dated April 22, 2025, after an earlier request on April 14 went unacknowledged by Natasha.
Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the SAN said Natasha failed to provide clarity on what he described as significant contradictions in her allegations, especially concerning her alleged harassment on December 8, 2023, and her subsequent praise of Akpabio the following day on social media.
Responding, Natasha vowed never to substantiate her allegations without the validation of the court of law.
Akpoti-Uduaghan categorically denied receiving any such letters, stating that they were never delivered to her by email, courier, or in person.
She accused Akpabio’s legal team of a “coordinated media campaign” against her, while accusing them of hypocrisy for invoking the subjudice rule to block a Senate inquiry, but “now engaging in public commentary on the same matter.”
Reaffirming her earlier position, the embattled lawmaker declared that she stands by her sexual harassment complaint filed on February 28, and will seek full legal redress both within Nigeria and internationally.
A statement she issued reads partly: “The assessment of evidence belongs to the courts alone.
“The nature of your demand for evidence in this manner, at the instance of your client, simply indicates a broader misconception of what truly amounts to sexual harassment as prescribed in several global protocols.
“It underscores a narrow perspective of the nature of this global menace. It is my respectful opinion that this is another attempt by your client to play to the gallery and relegate this matter yet again to the backwaters.
“Should further particulars be required, they will be furnished in the ordinary course of disclosure, subject to the direction of the Honorable Courts.
“Any attempt to circumvent that regulated process risks subverting the very rule-of-law values you have championed throughout your distinguished career.”
