Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has filed a N5 billion defamation suit against her colleague, Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, over claims he made during a televised interview accusing her of having six children for different men.
The suit, marked CV/1259/25, was instituted at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by Akpoti-Uduaghan through her team of legal representatives led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. M. J. Numa.
The claimant is seeking damages, a retraction, and a public apology, as well as an injunction restraining Nwaebonyi from making further defamatory comments.
Akpoti-Uduaghan described Nwaebonyi’s comments as false, malicious, and a calculated attempt to damage her reputation and political standing. She told the court that the comments caused her serious emotional distress, reputational damage, and public embarrassment.
According to her, the defamatory remarks were made on March 6, 2025, during a live interview on Channels Television’s “Sunrise Daily” programme. The defendant, who is the Senator representing Ebonyi North Central Senatorial District and also the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, allegedly referred to her as a “gold digger,” a “habitual liar,” and a “habitual blackmailer.”
The claimant also said Nwaebonyi went further to allege that her husband, Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan, married her under duress.
“These statements were broadcast nationally and rebroadcast across multiple online and social media platforms, thus ensuring wide publication,” Akpoti-Uduaghan told the court.
She insisted that the claims were not only fabricated but were deliberately crafted to tarnish her image in the public eye, particularly as she currently faces a six-month suspension from the Senate. She contended that the statements were aimed at discrediting her and undermining her petition currently before the Senate.
“The claimant further contends that these statements in their natural and ordinary meaning, are meant and were understood to portray the claimant: as someone who constantly extorts people for money through dishonest and unscrupulous means as a career.
“As someone who demands money or other benefits from someone in return for not revealing compromising or damaging information about them. As a woman who forms relationships with men purely to obtain money or gifts from them.
“As someone who constantly tells lies and does not speak the truth on most occasions and as someone who uses the threat of damaging information to coerce others into acting in her favour,” the statement read.
Akpoti-Uduaghan emphasized that the defendant, being a member of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, should have known better than to make such reckless and damaging claims, which she believes were designed to influence public opinion against her petition.
She urged the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining Senator Nwaebonyi and his affiliates from repeating the defamatory statements. Additionally, she requested the court to order him to retract the statements on the same platforms where they were made and to publish an unreserved apology in at least two national newspapers within seven days of the judgment.
She is also seeking N5 billion in aggravated and exemplary damages for the distress, embarrassment, and reputational harm she has suffered, as well as post-judgment interest of 10% per annum until the debt is fully paid.
“The claimant is an inspiration to women in politics and aspiring women for speaking truth to power. The claimant is not spoiling the chance of women in politics as falsely alleged, rather she is inspiring women to be bold in their quest for politics and good governance,” she asserted.
As of the time of this report, no date has been fixed for hearing the case.
