Akpoti-Uduaghan speaks on allegation of offering money to activist to fabricate lies against Akpabio

The suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has denied an allegation that she offered financial incentives to an activist to fabricate damaging stories against Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

In a statement released on Friday, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan debunked claims made by a United States-based activist, Sandra Duru, popularly known on social media as Professor Mgbeke, that she was paid to orchestrate a smear campaign against the senate president.

During a Facebook Live broadcast on Thursday night, Ms Duru alleged that the suspended senator offered her N200 million to falsely accuse Mr Akpabio of organ harvesting and link him to the death of a young girl two years ago.

The activist presented voice recordings and call logs allegedly from Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan to substantiate her claims during the live broadcast.

She also alleged that the senator confessed privately that Mr Akpabio had never sexually harassed her and that the accusations were fabricated solely to damage the Nigerian government’s image.

Additionally, Ms Duru claimed that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan referred to a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili and other supporters who appeared at the Senate hearing on her sexual harassment allegations against Mr Akpabio as “useful idiots,” suggesting they had been financially induced.

The activist also claimed that she did all within her power to persuade Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan from spreading the alleged false narratives, but the suspended senator refused, and that she has handed over all their communications to the appropriate security agencies for forensic investigation.

Responding to allegations

Responding, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan described the accusations as malicious fabrications and claimed that the audio presented by Ms Duru as manipulated.

She argued that the claims are part of a coordinated campaign designed to discredit her and undermine her credibility.

“I have carefully watched a livestream which was done by one Sandra C Duru on Facebook, on May 1st, 2025. The content of the livestream including the voice effect credited to me are entirely untrue, and most manipulated to serve Sandra Duru’s ulterior motive of playing the script of Senator Godswill Akpabio,” he said.

The senator also denied using derogatory terms against Mrs Ezekwesili and other personalities as listed by the activist.

“To the best of my knowledge, those words used against Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Abiola, FIDA and fellow Nigerians as “Gullible and Hungry” are crazy falsehood and did not emanate from the natural cause of any contact involving me.

“It was from recent research that I also found out that the person who now represents herself as Sandra Duru is the same person who operated as Prof. Mgbeke on Facebook. In the nearest of time, I will respond to the unfounded allegations made therein,” she added.

Previous investigations on Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan

The allegations add another layer to the controversy surrounding Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension from the Senate and her sexual harassment allegations against the senate president.

Security agencies are yet to comment publicly on whether they have started investigation based on the materials submitted by Ms Duru.

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However, PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Nigeria’s internal and external intelligence agencies had launched a probe into how she gained access to the meeting without official nomination.

A high-ranking administration official and two top security officials involved in the inquiry confided in PREMIUM TIMES that the State Security Service (SSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), are working to determine how Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan attended the international meeting without approval, who facilitated her trip and accreditation, and whether her participation was orchestrated by interest groups to embarrass Nigeria, its government and its people.

Nigerian authorities believe Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan did not follow the required diplomatic protocols before gaining access to the IPU meeting on 11 March, where she addressed her suspension from the Nigerian Senate, alleging that it was politically-motivated to silence her for speaking out against misconduct in the legislative chamber.