Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of ordering the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to seize her passport and stop her from travelling abroad.
The lawmaker, who recently marked her second anniversary in the Senate with a series of project commissions in Kogi Central, raised the alarm in a live Instagram broadcast from the airport, where she said immigration officers withheld her international passport without justification.
“Hello, fellow Nigerians. I’m Senator Natasha. Having completed my second year in office, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport here, and my passport has been withheld again,” she said in the video.
According to her, the incident was not the first time she had been stopped from travelling. She claimed that the officers told her her passport was seized on the instruction of Senate President Akpabio, who allegedly accused her of “spoiling the image of the country” during her interviews with international media outlets.
“The last time this happened, the officer in charge told me that Senator Godswill Akpabio instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he claimed that each time I go abroad, I spoil the image of the country,” Akpoti-Uduaghan stated.
She described the act as a violation of her fundamental rights, stressing that there was no court order restricting her movement or placing her on any travel watchlist.
“This same thing happened before when I was stopped from travelling even though I had committed no offence, and there was no court order restricting me,” she said.
The senator further alleged that Akpabio had instructed the Controller General of Customs to ensure her passport remained confiscated. She also revealed that President Bola Tinubu had directed the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to withdraw all legal cases previously filed against her by the Federal Government.
Her passport was, however, later released following what sources described as a “swift intervention” by unnamed senior officials.
The Kogi lawmaker’s confrontation with Akpabio dates back to February 2025, when a dispute over Senate seat reallocation led to her six-month suspension, effective March 6, 2025. She was reinstated on September 24, 2025, after appeals from party leaders and civil society groups.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s latest ordeal has sparked public debate over the alleged misuse of political authority and the recurring reports of rights violations against lawmakers and opposition figures.
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