Senior lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has issued a second formal letter to suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, urging her to withdraw what he described as a "clearly false and unsubstantiated" sexual harassment allegation against the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
Agbakoba, who represents Senator Akpabio, addressed the media at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday. He revealed that despite a previous letter dated April 14, 2025, asking Akpoti-Uduaghan to address notable inconsistencies in her claims, she has yet to provide any explanation.
Instead, the embattled senator reportedly deleted a social media post in which she had praised Akpabio the day after the alleged harassment.
In the new letter, dated April 22, 2025, Agbakoba pointed out the contradiction between Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claim that she was harassed on December 8, 2023, and her public commendation of Akpabio on December 9, 2023.
“Rather than clarify this contradiction, you deleted the social media post, which to us is extremely concerning,” he stated.
He further challenged the senator to explain why it took her over a year—from December 2023 until February 28, 2025—to make the allegation public.
Agbakoba also cited several instances throughout 2024 in which Akpoti-Uduaghan was seen attending both legislative and non-legislative events with Akpabio, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union session in Geneva in March 2024, where she appeared in photos with him and shared them warmly on her social media platforms.
Given her failure to address these contradictions, Agbakoba concluded that her accusations lack credibility and substance.
He demanded a formal retraction, stating, “We demand that you retract the sexual harassment allegations against our client as they are clearly false and unsubstantiated.”
