The suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has refuted allegations leveled against her by United Kingdom-based Nigerian businesswoman Sandra Duru, also known as Prof Mgbeke.
During a Facebook livestream on Thursday evening, Duru accused Senator Natasha of falsely claiming that Senate President Godswill Akpabio had sexually harassed her.
Duru also alleged that Senator Natasha attempted to involve her in a media campaign against Akpabio by offering substantial sums of money in naira and US dollars.
Additionally, Duru claimed the objective of Senator Natasha’s alleged campaign was to undermine President Bola Ahmed Tinubu politically by removing Akpabio, a key ally, from his position in the National Assembly.
To support her claims, Duru shared audio recordings during the broadcast, which she said were phone conversations between her and Senator Natasha.
In response, Senator Natasha released a statement on Friday categorically denying the allegations and asserting that Duru was working on behalf of Senate President Akpabio.
“I have carefully watched a livestream done by one Sandra C. Duru on Facebook, on May 1, 2025. The content of the livestream, including the voice attributed to me, is entirely untrue and has been manipulated to serve Sandra Duru’s ulterior motive of executing Senator Godswill Akpabio’s script,” Natasha said.
“To the best of my knowledge, those words are false and did not arise from any legitimate interaction involving me. I also recently discovered that the individual now identifying as Sandra Duru previously operated under the name Prof. Mgbeke on Facebook.”
Senator Natasha added that she would provide a more comprehensive response to the “unfounded allegations” in the near future.