By Obinna Uballa
Tension flared at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Tuesday morning as Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of orchestrating the seizure of her passport by immigration officers, preventing her from traveling abroad.
In a video shared on her verified social media handle, the senator, visibly angry, confronted immigration officials at the airport, alleging that her travel documents were being withheld without any legal justification.
“Fellow Nigerians, good morning. This is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Having completed the celebration of my second year in office, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport here, and my passport is being withheld again,” she said.
“I have committed no offense, and there is no court order to withhold my passport or deny me travel. The last time this happened, the officer in charge told us that Senate President Godswill Akpabio instructed them to withhold my passport because he said each time I travel out of the country, I smear the country’s image by granting interviews to international media.”
Turning to the immigration officers in the video, Akpoti-Uduaghan said: “You have no right to withhold my passport. You have no right to deny me entrance or exit into my country. I have not committed any offense and this must stop.”
The confrontation marks the second time the lawmaker’s travel has been obstructed at the Abuja airport, reigniting her long-running feud with Akpabio, who she has accused in the past of targeting her for political reasons.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District, has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Senate leadership. Earlier in the year, she accused Akpabio of sexual harassment and of marginalising female lawmakers, as well as of undermining opposition voices in the upper chamber. The allegations led to her being suspended for six months.
She also clashed with him publicly during Senate plenary sessions over what she described as “undemocratic conduct” in the distribution of constituency projects and appointments.
Tuesday’s incident has sparked outrage among her supporters and human rights advocates, who have demanded an explanation from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Senate leadership.
As of press time, neither the NIS nor the office of the Senate President had issued any official response to the senator’s allegation.
