A Nigerian senator says she learned through news reports that the government had filed defamation charges against her, leaving her “shocked” by the legal action.
Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan told the BBC that she was unaware of the lawsuit until she read about it in the media. “I’m actually shocked,” she said. “My first reaction when I read it is out of shock, because I have not been served until now.”
Nigeria’s attorney general filed the charges after Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former state governor Yahaya Bello had plotted to kill her. Both men deny the accusations.
Akpoti-Uduaghan previously accused Akpabio of sexually harassing her, which he also denied.
A spokesperson for Akpabio said there was “evidence beyond reasonable doubt” that Akpoti-Uduaghan had been served with court papers and urged her to use the next hearing to prove her claims.
Court documents reference a live interview Akpoti-Uduaghan gave last month to Nigeria’s Channels TV, in which she repeated her allegations. The attorney general said her statements could damage the reputations of Akpabio and Bello.
Akpoti-Uduaghan maintains she is telling the truth. “I was the one who ran to the police,” she said. “I made my petitions, I appeared on television, I spoke publicly on the threat to my life. Instead, it is the Senate president and former governor Yahaya Bello’s counter-petition, which is me defaming them, that is being attended to.”
She claims the charges are meant to “intimidate” her after she accused Akpabio of sexual harassment in February. “It’s an ill that has been normalised in the society—sexual harassment,” she said. “But here I am speaking about it. That was my first offense. Natasha is not supposed to speak about it. I’m supposed to bear it as a woman.”
The charges are the latest development in a saga that has gripped Nigeria and raised questions about gender equality in the socially conservative country. Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of only four women in the 109-seat Senate.
After accusing Akpabio of harassment, she was suspended from the Senate for six months without pay. The Senate’s ethics committee said the suspension was for her “unruly and disruptive” behavior. Akpoti-Uduaghan and her supporters say the suspension was retaliation for speaking out.
No date has been set for her court appearance.
