The suspended Senator for Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has filed a N5 billion defamation lawsuit against her colleague, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, for alleging that she has six children with different men.
Represented by a legal team led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) M. J. Numa, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan described Nwaebonyi’s claim as false and a deliberate attempt to damage her reputation.
In her petition to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), she stated that Nwaebonyi, who represents Ebonyi North Central Senatorial District, had caused significant harm to her reputation, leading to distress, embarrassment, and damage to her credibility.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan explained that during an interview with newsmen Nwaebonyi falsely and maliciously referred to her as a “gold digger,” a “habitual liar,” and a “habitual blackmailer.” In addition to the baseless claim of her having six children with different men, she said Nwaebonyi also falsely alleged that her husband, Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan, married her under duress.
The claimant argued that Nwaebonyi knowingly made these defamatory statements to discredit her, in an apparent attempt to justify her illegal suspension from the Senate. She further alleged that Nwaebonyi, a member of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, made these reckless statements to prejudice the public’s perception of her ongoing petition before the Senate.
As a result, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently serving a six-month suspension, is seeking a perpetual injunction to prevent Nwaebonyi, his associates, and anyone else linked to him from publishing or causing further defamatory statements about her. In her lawsuit, marked CV/1259/25, she is also asking the court to order Nwaebonyi to retract his defamatory statements on the same platforms where they were made and to issue a public apology in at least two national newspapers, both in print and electronically, within seven days of the court’s judgment.
Additionally, she is requesting the court to award N5 billion in aggravated and exemplary damages for the distress, reputational harm, and emotional suffering caused by the false, malicious, and harmful statements.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan insists that the claim that she has six children with different men is entirely unfounded, malicious, and reckless.
No date has yet been set for the hearing of the case.
