The face-off between Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Senate President Godswill Akpabio has escalated with the Kogi lawmaker filing a whopping N100.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Akpabio at a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Persecondnews reports that the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District alleged that Akpabio tarnished her image through a defamatory post published on his social media platform, Facebook.
According to her, the Senate President allegedly maligned her through a Facebook post published by his aide, titled “Is Local Content Committee of the Senate NATASHA’s BIRTHRIGHT?”.
She alleged that the social media post falsely quoted her as thinking that being a lawmaker entailed wearing heavy makeup and transparent clothing to the Senate Chambers.
The suit marked CV/737/25 lists Akpabio and Mr. Mfon Patrick, Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President as defendants.
The senator maintained that the post published by Akpabio and his aide was defamatory, provocative, and disparaging, and that it not only damaged her reputation but also severely undermined her dignity among her colleagues and the public.
Consequently, in the suit she filed through a team of lawyers led by Mr. Victor Giwa, Akpoti-Uduaghan, among other things, urged the court to issue an order compelling the defendants to withdraw the said defamatory words and publication made against her immediately and tender an apology to her in writing.
The lawmaker stipulated that the apology must be published in a widely circulated national daily newspaper within the court’s jurisdiction.
Other reliefs, include: “A declaration that the words ‘it is a bottled anger by the Kogi Lawmaker, who knows nothing about legislative rules. She thinks being a lawmaker is all about pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the Chambers,’ used and written by the 3rd defendant at the prompting of the 1st and 2nd defendants, is defamatory and intended to cause public opprobrium and disaffection towards the Claimant by members of the public.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether acting by themselves or through their agents, privies, assigns or associates, from further publishing or caused to be published the said defamatory words herein stated or any other similar publications about the Claimant on the social media platform or in any other manner, which is capable of defaming the Claimant.”
Furthermore, the lawmaker asked the court to order the defendants to pay her N100 billion in general damages, in addition to N300 million to cover the costs of litigation.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Persecondnews had reported that Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had a faceoff with the Senate President over alleged unauthorised change of her seating position in the Senate on Thursday February 20.
Meanwhile, the Senate on Tuesday, directed its Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions to investigate what it called “disorderly conduct” of Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan, abd turn in their report within three weeks.
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