The lawmaker representing Kogi Central in the Senate, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has refuted claims that she attempted to undermine President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, as alleged by UK-based businesswoman Sandra Duru.
According to reports, Duru had accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of planning to campaign against the President by targeting Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, with the goal of destabilising the administration in the National Assembly. However, Akpoti-Uduaghan has strongly denied these allegations.
In an interview with US-based Nigerian journalist Adeola Fayehun, Akpoti-Uduaghan stressed that she had never made such statements and described herself as someone who values unity and diversity.
She said, “People who know me know that I am not a tribalist. I respect and appreciate every tribe in Nigeria, every ethnicity. I am half Nigerian and half Ukrainian—who am I to talk about tribe when I am one part of the other world? That is not my nature; that is not my language.”
The Senator further suggested that the accusations against her may have been influenced by external forces.
“If anybody said that, it’s probably her team, the people who have sponsored her. Her sponsors are the ones who have probably put those words to her because they knew that I had enjoyed a lot of support from Nigerians, not just in Kogi State, but across the country and even in the diaspora,” she added.
Akpoti-Uduaghan also addressed her relationship with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, refuting the notion of any conflict between them. She stated that Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, was likely uncomfortable with her positive rapport with the President.
“The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, also knows that I enjoyed a good relationship with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I have not said it in the open before, but I am saying it now, and that annoyed him because there was a time when the Senate President told my husband, ‘Are you aware that your wife goes to see the President?’ and my husband told him he was aware,” Akpoti-Uduaghan revealed.
She explained that she had regularly met with President Tinubu, particularly when raising critical issues like the probe of Ajaokuta.
“Whenever I have critical issues to raise, like before I brought up the issue of probing Ajaokuta, I did meet with Mr. President to make sure he knew the nature of it, and he was okay with it. For other matters, too, I have met him in person,” she stated.
Despite her position in the opposition, Akpoti-Uduaghan reiterated that her primary responsibility is to the people of Kogi Central.
The lawmaker said, “I do not have a hostile relationship with the President, even though I am in the opposition. I keep saying, the good people of Kogi Central voted me as a Senator to work, not to antagonize or create enmity.”
She emphasised that her disagreements are directed at Senate President Akpabio and not at the entire Senate, the Nigerian people, or the Presidency.
“I want the people to know my issue is with the Senate President—not the entire Senate, the Nigerian people, the institutions, or the Presidency,” she concluded.