Kogiflame
The Senator representing Kogi central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has filed a defamation lawsuit against the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, following a dispute over the reassignment of her Senate seat.
Reports indicate that Akpoti-Uduaghan objected to the relocation of her seat after a reshuffle caused by opposition lawmakers defecting to the majority wing, which led to a confrontation between her and the Senate President.
On February 25, 2025, she filed a suit at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, naming the President of the Senate, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President, Mfon Patrick, as the second and third defendants.
The case, marked CV/737/25, alleges that defamatory statements were made by the Senate President and later published by his aide on Facebook.
According to her lawyer, Victor Giwa, the post in question, titled “Is the Local Content Committee of the Senate Natasha’s Birthright?”, contained statements suggesting that Akpoti-Uduaghan believed her role as a lawmaker was merely about “pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the chambers.”
Giwa described the post as defamatory, provocative, and disparaging, arguing that it damaged her reputation among her colleagues and the public.
“A DECLARATION that the words, ‘It is bottled anger by the Kogi lawmaker, who knows nothing about legislative rules. She thinks being a lawmaker is all about pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the chambers,’ used and written by the third defendant at the prompting of the first and second defendants, is defamatory and intended to cause public opprobrium and disaffection toward the claimant.”
In addition to seeking a perpetual injunction to prevent the defendants and their associates from making further defamatory statements about her, she also demanded N100 billion in general damages and N300 million for litigation costs.
“An order for the payment of the sum of N100,000,000,000 as general damages. An order for the payment of the sum of N300,000,000 as the cost of action,” her lawsuit stated.
