By James Adamu in Abuja
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of personally ordering the seizure of her passport, preventing her from travelling abroad.
The incident, which she described as an embarrassment, occurred at the international airport on Tuesday, marking a recurrence of a similar event from several months ago.
In a frustrated account of the 20-minute standoff with immigration officials, Senator Natasha in a video she posted on her verified Facebook account, stated that the officers provided no court order to justify withholding her travel document.
She claimed that during the previous incident, an officer explicitly told her team that the instruction came directly from Senator Akpabio.
“The last time this happened, the officer in charge told us that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he said each time I travel, I smear the country’s image by granting interviews to the international media,” she said.
The lawmaker expressed her outrage at what she sees as a violation of her fundamental rights. “You have no right to withhold my passport. You have no right to deny me exit and entrance into my country. I have not committed any offence and this must stop,” she declared, vowing to pursue legal action. “I will have to sue you, because this embarrassment is too much.”
The confrontation takes on a deeper political significance due to a revelation Senator Natasha made about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s involvement in her legal affairs. She asserted that the President had already intervened in the two federal cases she referenced, agreeing they were politically motivated.
“The President of Nigeria has instructed the AGF to cancel the cases. Withdraw the cases. The President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, actually spoke with Godswill Akpabio to terminate all the cases against me, because he admitted, he agreed that they were politically witch-hunting me”, she revealed.
This allegation, if accurate, places the actions of the Senate President in direct opposition to the stated will of the President.
“So, there is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the International Airport. There’s no reason,” she argued, framing the airport detention as a personal vendetta by Senator Akpabio that continues despite the President’s directive. She questioned the extent of his influence, asking, “Is Godswill Akpabio so important? Why is he overruling boundaries?”
This latest incident occurs against a fraught political backdrop. Senator Natasha has just recently resumed her duties in the Senate following a six-month suspension. That suspension was levied by the Senate, led by Akpabio, over allegations of misconduct. Furthermore, her return to the chamber comes after she herself made public allegations of sexual assault against the Senate President, claims which she has yet to provide concrete evidence to back.
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