Suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has affirmed her commitment to pursuing her lawsuit against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, accusing him of sexual harassment, to its conclusion in court.
In response to a letter from Akpabio’s lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, dated April 30, 2025, she maintained that her sexual harassment allegations are truthful and stated that she will provide further details in court, as it is the proper venue for judgement on the matter.
Akpoti-Uduaghan criticized Agbakoba for requesting her to provide evidence of the sexual harassment allegations outside of the court proceedings, particularly since Akpabio’s wife, Mrs. Unoma, has already filed a similar complaint in the High Court of the FCT (suit No. CV/816/25).
Read Also:Agbakoba Demands Retraction Of Natasha’s Sexual Harassment Allegation Against Akpabio
“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,” she argued.
“It underscores a narrow perspective of the nature of this global menace. It is in 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 Honourable Courts. Any attempt to circumvent that regulated process risks subverting the very rule-of-law values you have championed throughout your distinguished career.”
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan argued that it’s contradictory for Godswill Akpabio, through his lawyer Olisa Agbakoba, to initiate a media campaign demanding she provide proof of her sexual harassment allegations, when Akpabio, due to his position in the Senate, has prevented the same allegations from being addressed within the Senate itself.
“The principle is elementary: a litigant may not approbate in the courts and reprobate in the press. The rule against parallel adjudication safeguards the integrity of judicial determination, preserves the fairness of proceedings, and secures the dignity of all arms of government,” she stressed.
Regarding a social media post from December 9, 2023, where she acknowledged the Senate President’s presence at a public event, and photographs from the Inter-Parliamentary Union Session in Geneva (March 24-25, 2024) showing normal professional interactions, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan clarified that such public civility should not be interpreted as an admission that no misconduct occurred. She argued that doing so would trivialize the serious issue of sexual harassment, especially when it involves the abuse of a dominant position in a workplace.
Akpoti-Uduaghan stated that she had deliberately refrained from responding to the letters purportedly sent to her by Olisa Agbakoba on the sexual harassment allegations, following legal advice and respecting the “lis pendens” doctrine, which advises against discussing matters before a court.
She also clarified that she had not received any previous letters from Olisa Agbakoba.
According to her, “Two parallel suits, one initiated by the spouse of the Senate President, the other initiated by me, are pending before courts of competent jurisdiction:Suit No. CV/816/25 (Unoma Godswill Akpabio v. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, High Court of the FCT) in which ₦250 billion damages and injunctive reliefs are sought on allegations of defamation and sexual harassment; and Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025 (Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan v. Clerk of the National Assembly & Ors, Federal High Court, Abuja) challenging, inter alia, my referral to the committee on ethics, privileges and public petitions on grounds of misconduct without affording me a fair hearing culminating into my purported suspension from the Senate for a period of 6 months, the cognate withdrawal of my remuneration, security detail and parliamentary privileges.
“While Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025 is unrelated to the sexual harassment allegations I made against the President of the Senate, Suit No. CV/816/2025 is directly related to the allegations of sexual harassment instituted by Your Client’s spouse, on which issues have been joined. In fidelity to the doctrine of lis pendens and a court’s direction, my silence was occasioned. Given that both suits are currently before courts of competent jurisdiction, it is improper for any party to make extrajudicial comments.”
Recall that Olisa Agbakoba sent a follow-up letter to Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, insisting she retract what he termed her “clearly false and unsubstantiated” claims of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
At a Tuesday press conference in Lagos, Agbakoba explained that this second letter was needed because the suspended Senator had not addressed the significant inconsistencies in her accusations, as requested in his initial letter of April 14, 2025.
He pointed out that instead of explaining the discrepancies between her allegation that Akpabio sexually harassed her on December 8, 2023, and her subsequent praise of him on social media on December 9, 2023, Akpoti-Uduaghan deleted the social media post.
In his letter of April 22, 2025, written on behalf of Olisa Agbakoba Legal (AOL) and shared with the press, the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) stated, “Recall that in our first letter to you, dated April 14, 2025, we requested that you clarify contradictions in your sexual harassment allegation against our client, Senator Godswill Akpabio. Of note is the contradiction as to timeline and dates.”
“You have failed to clarify your sexual harassment allegation on December 8, 2023 and your exaltation of Senator Akpabio on your social media accounts (Instagram and X/Twitter) on December 9, 2023 – the day after you alleged he sexually harassed you.
“Rather than clarify this contradiction, you deleted the social media post, which to us is extremely concerning.”
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