Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu directed the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, to withdraw all court cases filed against her.
The female lawmaker made the revelation in a Facebook Live video on Tuesday morning after she was allegedly prevented from travelling out of the country.
She claimed her passport was seized by immigration officials on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan explained that President Tinubu had already intervened in her matter, insisting that there was no justification for Immigration officers to withhold her passport.
“There was no order. Yes, I know I have two Federal Government cases against me, of which the President of Nigeria instructed the Attorney-General of the Federation to cancel, to withdraw the cases,” she said.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu actually spoke to Godswill Akpabio to terminate all the cases against me because he admitted, he agreed that they were politically witch-hunting me with cases. So there is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the international airport. You have no right to that, madam.”
Visibly upset, the Kogi Central senator turned her camera toward the immigration officers in the background, alleging that they had withheld her passport for more than 20 minutes.
“Is Godswill Akpabio so important? Why is he overruling boundaries?” she asked. “Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, has instructed the Comptroller-General of Customs to deny me exit, to withhold my passport. This is wrong.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan added that this was not the first time her movement had been restricted by authorities.
Recall that the Federal Government filed fresh charges against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan at the Federal High Court, Abuja, intensifying its legal battle against her. The new charge, FHC/ABJ/CR/195/25, was filed on May 22, 2025, just weeks after a similar charge, CR/297/25, was instituted against her at the FCT High Court.
Both charges were based on allegations that Akpoti-Uduaghan made statements capable of tarnishing the reputations of Senate President Akpabio and former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello.
