Akpabio denies filing new ₦200bn lawsuit against Natasha

Akpabio denies filing new ₦200bn lawsuit against Natasha

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has dismissed claims that he recently initiated a fresh legal action against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, clarifying that no new lawsuit has been filed.

In a statement released on Saturday by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, the Senate President described reports that he had “just filed” a ₦200bn lawsuit against Akpoti-Uduaghan as “misleading and incorrect.”

According to Udom, the defamation suit was instituted over three months ago, but progress had been slowed by procedural and administrative processes within the judiciary.
“Her claim that the matter was ‘just filed’ is therefore false, misleading, and intended to distort public understanding of the case,” he said.

The statement explained that the court’s bailiff made several unsuccessful attempts to personally serve Akpoti-Uduaghan with the originating processes.

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“Each attempt failed due to her deliberate evasion of service, as deposed to under oath in the bailiff’s affidavit before the court,” Udom stated.
He added that it was only after these repeated failed attempts that the court granted an application for substituted service in November.

Akpabio stressed that legal disagreements must be addressed through the courts rather than through social-media commentaries or online agitation.
“Legal disputes are resolved in courtrooms, not through orchestrated narratives and staged outrage on social-media platforms,” he said, adding that “the online applause Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan habitually seeks cannot replace credible evidence, legal procedure, or judicial scrutiny.”

The Senate President also referenced what he described as a “recurring pattern” in Akpoti-Uduaghan’s conduct, noting her previous six-month suspension from the Senate, which he said she attempted to delegitimise online but ultimately served in full.

He urged her to present whatever evidence she claims to possess before a competent court.
“It is time for Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to present the evidence she claims to possess, rather than relying on sensationalised commentary designed to attract sympathy and obscure the facts,” he said.

Akpabio insisted that the matter will be resolved strictly through proof, procedure, and due process, advising his colleague to properly brief her lawyers and file her defence in the ongoing suit.

Akpabio denies filing new ₦200bn lawsuit against Natasha