Reasons for Not Dropping My Lawsuit Against Akpabio, Natasha Writes Agbakoba

 

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central in the Senate, was adamant about taking the lawsuit against Senate President Godswill Akpabio for sexual harassment all the way to the end. In a letter dated April 30, 2025, to Akpabio’s attorney, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Olisa Agbakoba, she stated that her sexual harassment petition accurately depicted the events she was complaining about. She also stated that she would save any additional remarks for the Court, which has the sole authority to decide whether the matter is appropriate or not.

The legislator criticized Agbakoba for purportedly requesting that she provide evidence of the sexual harassment claims made against Akpabio, outside of the pleadings that had previously been submitted to the FCT High Court on the identical complaint made by Akpabio's wife, Unoma, in suit No. CV/816/25.

“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.”

According to Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, it is incomprehensible that Akpabio is now launching a public campaign, purportedly through Agbakoba, requesting that she provide evidence in a field he would not permit the Senate to discuss because of his privileged position.

“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 said.

She argued that outward civility cannot be transformed into an admission that no misconduct occurred, adding that doing so trivializes a serious concern of sexual harassment, especially in a workplace using a dominant position. She made this claim in a social media post on December 9, 2023, acknowledging the Senate President's presence at a public event and citing photos taken at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Session in Geneva (24–25 March 2024) that show the customary civil interactions associated with official representation.

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that by following legal counsel and showing respect for the theory of lis pendens, she exercised studious restraint by declining to reply to the alleged letters that Agbakoba had sent her regarding the sexual harassment accusation against Akpabio.

The letter further clarified that Olisa Agbakoba had not previously written 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.”

Remember how Agbakoba demanded in a second letter to Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan that she recant her "blatantly unfounded and unsubstantiated" claims of sexual harassment against the Senate President?

At a news conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Agbakoba said that the beleaguered senator had neglected to address the serious inconsistencies in her accusations against Akpabio, as required in his initial letter dated April 14, 2025, which is why the most recent letter was required.

He claimed that rather than addressing the inconsistencies between her claim that on December 8, 2023, Akpabio sexually harassed her and her December 9, 2023, glorification of her alleged harasser on social media, Natasha removed her post.