Suspended Nigerian senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has come out swinging against explosive bribery and blackmail allegations made by a United Kingdom-based Nigerian businesswoman, Sandra Duru, popularly known online as “Prof Mgbeke.”
In a fiery Facebook livestream on May 1, 2025, Duru claimed that Senator Natasha attempted to co-opt her into a malicious media campaign aimed at discrediting Senate President Godswill Akpabio. According to Duru, the senator allegedly offered her millions of naira and hefty sums in U.S. dollars to publicly support a narrative accusing Akpabio of sexual harassment—a calculated smear campaign, she claimed, to derail the Senate President and by extension, weaken President Bola Tinubu’s political stronghold.
To bolster her claims, Duru played a series of audio clips, purportedly recorded phone calls with Akpoti-Uduaghan, suggesting collusion and conspiracy at the highest level.
But Senator Natasha is calling foul.
In a bold and strongly worded statement released on Friday, Akpoti-Uduaghan dismissed the audio as a “manipulated fabrication,” accusing Duru of serving as a pawn in what she described as an orchestrated vendetta spearheaded by Akpabio himself.
> “The content of the livestream, including the voice attributed to me, is entirely untrue and has been doctored to fulfill Sandra Duru’s ulterior motive of executing Senator Godswill Akpabio’s script,” the senator declared.
Akpoti-Uduaghan further hinted at Duru’s checkered online past, revealing that the self-styled “Prof Mgbeke” had operated under questionable aliases and methods, implying a pattern of deceit and misinformation. She promised a comprehensive rebuttal to what she labeled as “desperate and unfounded allegations.”
This controversy marks the latest twist in the simmering political standoff between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Akpabio.
In February 2025, the senator stunned the nation when she publicly accused Senate President Akpabio of sexual harassment during a televised interview. She alleged that Akpabio had made suggestive remarks and tied the approval of her legislative proposals to personal favours. The Senate President vehemently denied the claims and demanded judicial redress.
The fallout was swift. In March, the Senate slammed a six-month suspension on Akpoti-Uduaghan, citing “unruly and disruptive conduct.” Her complaint was dismissed on procedural grounds—Senate rules mandate that such petitions must be submitted through another senator.
Her suspension over what critics dubbed a “trumped-up technicality” triggered a wave of outrage. A mass movement under the banner “We Are All Natasha” erupted across Nigeria, with civil society groups, women’s rights activists, and democracy advocates staging protests in major cities including Lagos, Enugu, Edo, and Kaduna, demanding her reinstatement and condemning the Senate’s handling of the matter.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected a petition seeking her recall, declaring it constitutionally deficient.
With tensions escalating and both camps digging in, the political drama continues to unfold with high stakes and national attention. One thing is certain: Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not backing down—and neither is her fight against what she claims is a silencing campaign from the highest levels of Nigeria’s political elite.
PIONEER NEWS 