The forthcoming arraignment of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on June 19 has stirred both national attention and international curiosity and it’s not solely because of the charge itself, but due to the broader implications it carries for justice and democratic space in Nigeria. While no Nigerian is above the law, the law must not be manipulated into a political instrument to weaken dissent or punish independent voices. If justice becomes a political tool, then no one is safe.

The fact that this case is emerging in the heat of ongoing political tensions makes it difficult for reasonable observers not to question the timing, the urgency, and the cast of individuals being presented as credible witnesses. In a constitutional democracy, perception matters as much as procedure, and this entire proceeding is already battling a credibility crisis.

What is particularly troubling is the inclusion of individuals whose names have, over time, been associated with multiple controversies, now being projected as principal witnesses in a federal prosecution. This raises an important point of law and logic: can a prosecution claim to pursue justice while leaning on testimonies that appear ethically compromised or publicly discredited?

Even more troubling are revelations which were admittedly posted and later deleted by Kenny Okolugbo, a persons closely linked to this matter, which suggest premeditated attempts to influence public perception through unofficial channels. While no conclusive judgment can be made until the court hears all sides, the court of public opinion cannot pretend not to notice what looks, to many, like a coordinated effort to undermine a woman who has shown courage in public life.

This matter is no longer just about defamation but a reflection of how state power, media narratives, and private actors can sometimes converge in ways that threaten the essence of fair hearing. Senator Natasha has consistently denied the allegations and welcomed the opportunity to clear her name in a court of law. That, in itself, is a democratic posture.

What Nigerians now expect is that the court will be allowed to operate without external pressure, and that legal processes will not be used as a veil for political score settling. Any attempt to sacrifice fairness on the altar of influence will not only damage one woman’s name, it will damage the public’s trust in our institutions.

By ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Speaker | Political Thinker | Pan-African

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OFFICE OF THE SENATOR REPRESENTING KOGI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT

SENATOR NATASHA H. AKPOTI-UDUAGHAN

JUNE 12 DEMOCRACY DAY ADDRESS TO THE NATION

12TH JUNE, 2025

Fellow Nigerians,

Today, our nation stands before the mirror of history as we mark yet another Democracy Day; an occasion that calls not for empty celebration, but for deep national reflection. The date 12th June does not merely appear on the calendar as a public holiday. It represents a covenant borne of sacrifice, a reminder of our unfinished journey, and a solemn tribute to the spirit of a people who refused to surrender their will to tyranny.

More than three decades ago, millions of Nigerians, across ethnic, religious, and regional lines, voted in what remains one of the most credible elections ever conducted in our history. That election, though annulled by forces of authoritarianism, gave birth to a movement of resistance that reshaped our political trajectory and brought forth the fragile democracy we now seek to protect and deepen. The name of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, whose victory was denied but whose legacy endured, shall forever be inscribed in the conscience of this Republic as a symbol of hope, sacrifice, and justice.

This day, therefore, is not about speeches. It is not about ceremonies held in the comfort of government houses. It is about the millions of Nigerians whose lives must be the true measure of our democracy. It is about the young graduate unable to find work after years of study. It is about the mother forced to watch her children go to bed hungry. It is about the farmer driven off his land by violence. It is about the small business owner crushed under the weight of multiple taxes, and the civil servant whose pension has become a rumour. Until democracy begins to speak directly to their pain, we must admit, with courage and clarity, that we have a long way to go.

Democracy cannot be reduced to elections held every four years. It must translate to good governance that delivers infrastructure, security, education, healthcare, and economic dignity. It must reflect in the accountability of public office holders, the independence of the judiciary, the professionalism of our security agencies, and the deliberate inclusion of women and youth in all spheres of national life. A democracy that excludes the majority of its people from its benefits is not worthy of the name.

As a representative of the people of Kogi Central in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I remain deeply committed to the ideals that this day represents. I believe that leadership is not a privilege to be exploited but a burden of trust to be carried with integrity. I believe that the National Assembly must not only pass laws, but must also serve as the conscience of the nation. We must use our legislative powers to strengthen institutions, protect civil liberties, and elevate the quality of life for every Nigerian, regardless of region, faith, or background.

To the young people of this country, I say to you today: do not lose faith. The Nigeria we seek is not beyond reach. The road is hard, the sacrifices are many, but the dream is still alive. Your voice matters. Your ideas are valid. Your time will come. To the women of this country, I say to you: do not shrink your voice. Let no one make you feel invisible in the affairs of a nation you have carried on your back for generations. To all Nigerians, let us recommit ourselves to the values of peace, patriotism, service, and justice.

We must reject the politics of bitterness and embrace the politics of nation-building. We must not allow those who profit from our divisions to dictate the tone of our national discourse. We must learn to disagree without destroying one another. We must hold our leaders accountable, but also play our part as responsible citizens.

June 12 is not just a memory. It is a call to duty. It is a reminder that democracy must not only be defended, but must be delivered. Let us therefore rise above cynicism and work together to build a Nigeria where democracy is not a ceremony, but a lived experience in the daily life of every citizen.

On behalf of the good people of Kogi Central Senatorial District, and in honour of those who sacrificed their lives for the democratic freedoms we now enjoy, I reaffirm my unshakable commitment to the principles of transparency, equity, justice, and inclusive governance.

May the labour of our heroes past never be in vain. May our democracy grow stronger. May Nigeria fulfil its promise.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

SIGNED:

SENATOR NATASHA HADIZA AKPOTI-UDUAGHAN

Senator Representing Kogi Central Senatorial District

12th June, 2025

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There is something about the African soil that conditions the child. It shapes the bones and stiffens the spine with its heat and hardship. Yet, there is also something about the African society that suppresses boldness, especially in women, because this society has mastered the art of silence. Silence when abused, when cheated, and even in the face of cruelty. The African woman, born and bred in this silence, is raised to adjust, to endure, to surrender. Her dignity is considered a gift to power, and her voice, a threat to patriarchy. It is within this decaying culture that we must place the defiance of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a woman whose very existence seems to threaten the bones of Nigeria’s political gods.

It is not enough to say she is brave. That would be insulting. What this woman is doing in the face of institutional torment, coordinated blackmail, and organised conspiracy goes beyond what Nigeria has been trained to comprehend. Since she exposed the Senate President for what she described as sexual harassment, what has followed has not been justice or investigation. It has instead been vengeance. A ruthless, systematic kind of vengeance. They suspended her, ostracised her, sponsored media attacks, lured compromised voices to defame her, and even weaponised the legal system. They brought in a mentally unstable character from America, the one who calls herself Scamdra Dupe-U, to launch a smear campaign, thinking perhaps that madness would be more believable than truth. All of it was just to break her. Yet, she has refused to bend.

There is something in her DNA that they did not calculate. The Nigerian society raises girls to become women who obey before complaint, but Natasha is not just Nigerian. She carries in her blood the legacy of a Ukrainian mother, a Russian maternal root and Nigerian humanitarian father from Kogi. Two nations with a history of rebellion, resistance, and resilience. There is something about the Russian spirit that does not kneel. There is something in the Ukrainian soul that does not beg and there’s something in the Nigeria spirit of “We no dry gree.” It fights, it burns, it breaks before it bends. So, when Natasha stood up and pointed her fingers at the seat of the Senate, they mistook her for a regular Nigerian woman. They thought she would cry and retreat. They did not realise they had summoned a storm whose roots go far beyond their comprehension.

Many Nigerians, both men and women, do not realise what she represents. In a country where female political leaders are expected to flirt, trade dignity for survival, and offer their bodies to rise, Natasha’s presence has become a mirror that is not to shame others, but to challenge them. Women who once believed survival required surrender are beginning to see that power does not reside between the thighs. Men who have grown fat on patriarchy are now waking up to the reality that a woman who is not afraid to fall cannot be broken by threats. What Natasha has done is not only political, but cultural. She has shattered the unwritten agreement between fear and survival.

Let no one make the mistake of thinking this fight is only about her. This is bigger than Natasha. It is a referendum on womanhood in Nigeria. It is a question on whether the Nigerian Senate belongs to all or to a few men who believe every woman must spread her legs before them to belong. Her suspension was never about misconduct but a punishment, a warning and a coded message to other women that power is only for those who play by the dark rules. She broke the rules, and she is still here. They threw her into fire, but they forgot she was born of iron.

There are those who scoff, who say she should have kept quiet and should have allowed the harassment pass. That she should have endured it for political stability. This is the poverty of spirit that has kept Nigeria where it is. We have become a country that celebrates silence and rewards the wicked. If she had opened her legs instead of her mouth, they would have applauded her, but since she opened her mouth instead of her legs, they want to destroy her. If she had compromised her dignity to gain peace, they would have offered her protection, but because she refused to trade her soul for comfort, they are bent on dragging her name into the mud. Still, she stands.

When you think about it, Nigerians should be ashamed. This woman has done what many men could not do. She is fighting a battle that thousands of politicians have avoided all their lives. She has taken a bullet on behalf of a generation that mocks her from the sidelines. Yet, some of you are still attacking her, praying that Akpabio will throw you scraps. Some of you have no food on your table, but you are defending a system that has never fed you. You have made enemies of your saviours, and friends of your oppressors. What madness is this?

Those who know history will remember women like Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Women who stood when it was dangerous to stand. Women who spoke when silence was law, but even Funmilayo had her era, and this is Natasha’s era. She has become the moral line that separates submission from courage. She is the standard by which political integrity will be measured in years to come. If she perishes, history will record that she stood, and she fought, and she refused to bow. If she survives, Nigeria may have just found its first true female political lion in decades. Either way, she wins, because the battle is not just political. It is spiritual. She is revealing demons in high places, and dragging secrets into the light. She is rewriting the rules of the game.

The question now is no longer whether Natasha is telling the truth. The confessions have already begun, and the lies are falling apart. Those who conspired against her are already turning on themselves, as the spell is breaking, and the tide is changing. What remains is whether Nigerians, especially Nigerian women will recognise the hour. This is not just about one senator and one Senate President. This is a moment of national reckoning. What happens to Natasha will echo into the future. If you allow them destroy her, they will come for the next woman, and the next. Until the only women left in politics are the ones who have given up their voice.

So ask yourself this: if you had her courage, what would you have done differently? If you had her spine, what would you have refused to accept? If your daughter were Natasha, what would you be saying now?

The answer lies not in what you feel, but in what you fear. And that, my fellow Nigerians, is why Natasha remains the bravest soul in Nigerian politics today.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Political Analyst | Speaker | Pan-African

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Straw was not the type of film one finishes and walks away from with a simple shrug or laugh. I sat for hours, thinking, not because the acting was poor. No, the performance was indeed gripping with faces that were familiar, and voices that were believable, because the pain felt close to home. Yet, something deeper disturbed me. Something that has troubled for far too long, and Tyler Perry has refused to confront it with honesty. Tyler Perry owes the black woman far more than this recycled suffering.

Tyler Perry has done well for himself in the business of storytelling, but sometimes success becomes dangerous when nobody around you can say, “Oga, this thing you are doing is becoming a problem.” His new film, Straw, follows a pattern that many of us are no longer willing to pretend we don’t see. It is the same pot of trauma stew, stirred with tears, garnished with madness, and served with a side of loud black pain. It is the same old performance: a black woman is torn apart by betrayal, loneliness, and mental pressure until she collapses into violence. We have seen this film too many times, dressed in different clothes. The acting may have improved, the production value may look richer, but the story is the same cloth sewn into different styles. From “The Haves and Have not” to “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” to “Acrimony,” to “The Family That Preys,” to “A Fall From Grace,” and now “Straw,” what we see is not a black woman rising but a black woman breaking, exploding, then collapsing. The story ends, not in healing, but in spectacle. The only difference now is that instead of Madea’s slapstick comedy, Perry is using tears and guns to entertain the crowd.

This is not an attack on Tyler Perry’s intentions. Perhaps he believes he is doing the work of advocacy. Perhaps he believes the world must first witness our pain before it can understand our strength. Perhaps he means well. However, in life, meaning well is not the same as doing well. It has become increasingly obvious that Tyler Perry has carved a profitable niche for himself in the business of black female suffering. Whether it is the African American woman in his dramas, the loud aunt in a wig shouting in a kitchen, or the quiet woman on the verge of breaking down, the formula is the same… strip her down, break her spirit, crush her with betrayal, and then let her rise either through vengeance or madness. That method is not just outdated, but irresponsibly stale. The black woman is not a ticking time bomb, or a museum of trauma. She is not a dramatic prop for tearful cinema. She is a whole human being with far more to offer than crying on screen.

The acting in Straw was excellent, and it is important to give credit where it is due. Teyana Taylor carried her role with heavy shoulders and eyes that spoke even before her mouth moved. Taraji P. Henson, as always, gave a performance rooted in experience and we felt every tear and pain as bled on screen. Sherri Shepherd also brought life to her character with the kind of honesty that cannot be taught. No one is questioning their craft, because it was incredible. What must be questioned is the story itself. Why must it always begin and end with pain? What is the point of carrying so much pain to the audience without also carrying some light? Why must the black woman always reach her peak when she has nothing left… no joy, no sanity, no peace, just rage and destruction? Why must the black woman in Perry’s universe always lose a child, a home, a man, or her mind? Why is the only way to show her strength through destruction? At what point will Perry realise that repetition is not creativity? There is a difference between telling hard truths and feeding a stereotype. We have crossed that line.

Tyler Perry has now become too comfortable feeding audiences with the same formula: break her spirit, show her madness, insert God at the end, and let the credits roll. I don’t think that is empowerment, but emotional punishment. It is trauma monetised.

There are women all over the world who go through the furnace of life. White women, Asian women, Arab women, because suffering is not peculiar to race. What is peculiar is the lens through which it is portrayed. One does not have to go far. A simple series like “The Maid” on Netflix told the story of a white single mother struggling with an abusive partner, poverty, rejection, and mentally unstable mother, while trying to raise her child alone. Her pain was real, yet there was no pointing a gun at society, or madness. There was no need to make her a monster before showing her pain. She cleaned houses, wrote her stories gathered from cleaning houses, and fought to get into the university as a single mother through the application of student loan. She cried, yes, but she also moved forward and grew. That is how to tell a painful story with honour. That is how you inspire people who are going through the same thing. It is not by shouting, shooting, or collapsing every ten minutes in the name of drama. Real life is already difficult already. So, people need direction and not disaster. That is what the black woman deserves too, and not the constant reinforcement of the image of a loud, bitter, violent woman who explodes when the world refuses to love her.

In Straw, what one sees is not a woman seeking healing, but a woman who has concluded that her pain is enough reason to punish the world. Her trauma is now a licence to hurt. Her hurt becomes a religion. Her weapon becomes her voice. She enters a bank, not with a dream, but with a gun. That is not strength, power, or resistance. It is simply pain that has fermented into destruction. The message being sent is dangerous. That when life wounds you as a black woman, you must scream until walls fall. That healing comes from collapsing everything around you. That is a fat lie. That is not the legacy of black womanhood. That is not how our mothers survived slavery, colonialism, domestic violence, or abandonment. They held their pain like fire in the belly and raised nations from ashes. They found God, found therapy and found purpose. They did not hold rooms hostage. Instead, they held themselves.

We must ask ourselves an honest question: what are we feeding the next generation of black girls when every time they see themselves on screen, they are broken, bitter, betrayed, or ballistic? Are we teaching them that healing is not possible? That strength can only come after total madness? That carrying trauma is a badge of honour? That therapy is a joke and violence is the only way to be heard? These are not small things, because images shape culture, memory, and shape what a little girl believes is her destiny. You cannot plant poison and expect honey to grow. Perry may not realise it, but he is not just entertaining people, he is archiving pain as our permanent identity.

There are millions of black women raising children with no help. Black women bury their children and return to work on Monday. They are building businesses, leading governments, surviving betrayal, and healing from rape, incest, rejection and poverty. Yet, they carry it with dignity. They are not perfect, but they are powerful. The world deserves to see those stories too. If Tyler Perry truly wants to honour black women, he must tell the full story, and not just the collapse, but the recovery. Not just the betrayal, but the forgiveness. Not just the madness, but the wisdom. We are not only women who scream. We are women who think, pray, build, lead and love. Our strength is not only in noise. There is also power in our silence and victory in our stillness.

Pain is not a black woman’s identity. It is part of her journey, yes, but it is not her name. She is neither defined by it, nor does she wear it as a crown. She is not special because she suffers, but she is special because she survives. In surviving, she does not need to destroy the world to prove a point. What Tyler Perry has done over the years is freeze the image of the black woman in mid collapse. He gives her permission to cry, but rarely gives her room to recover. That is not love or loyalty, but spectacle, theatre of trauma, and the ticket has become too expensive to justify.

It is time for Tyler Perry to change direction. Enough of using black trauma as creative fuel. Enough of turning every black woman into a victim of emotional explosion. If you truly love black women, evolve and write them better. Stretch your pen beyond madness and misery. Show their joy, their success, their peace, their love stories that don’t end in madness. Show her winning without first breaking. I mean…we are not asking you to lie. We are only asking you to see us as more than walking tragedies. Write about a black woman who is not angry, crazy, weeping, or lost. Just powerful, brilliant, and free.

We are more than pain. We are not ticking time bombs. We are builders of nations, keepers of homes, teachers, thinkers, survivors, and visionaries. The black woman is not a straw about to break. She is steel. She is soil. She is river. She is fire. She is spirit. She is soft and strong at the same time. She is what the world cannot define in a single word, and she deserves stories that carry her full identity, not just her wounds.

The time has come to stop turning her into a shadow of herself just to sell tickets. If Tyler Perry wants to honour her, then he must write her fully, deeply, truthfully.

Enough of the broken shadows.

By: ILUOOGHENE DePOET

Lawyer | Writer | Speaker | Pan-African

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There are moments in a man’s life when his soul begins to quarrel with his silence. A kind of spiritual restlessness that grips his chest in the dead of the night and drags him to the threshold of truth. You toss and turn, not because the mattress is hard, but because the burden of guilt becomes too heavy to ignore. This is the same thing that seems to have happened to Sir Kenny Okolugbo, a former Commissioner under Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and now a strategic communications consultant to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio. In what seemed like a divine confrontation between truth and deceit, Sir Kenny took to his social media page during the Salah period with a confessional statement that jolted the conscience of the nation. Without warning, he began to reveal what many Nigerians had long suspected, but were still too afraid to admit that the series of vicious, calculated, coordinated attacks against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan were not mere coincidences, but the product of a deliberate, well financed political plot designed by powerful men who see Nigeria as a playground for criminal manipulation.

He admitted that he was not just aware, but was part of the script. He was not merely a spectator in the audience of betrayal, he was one of the actors on the stage of this malicious drama. He mentioned secret meetings in London, he referenced Sandra Duru, he exposed how Senator Natasha’s voice was cloned and manipulated to discredit her. He confessed that her phone was hacked, her privacy violated, and her public image targeted. Every dot connected with the precision of evil genius. This was not a political competition, but a political assassination of character. According to Kenny, it was led by the Senate President himself “Godswill Akpabio.” That confession, raw and damning, was not made under duress, nor was it typed by error. It was a man driven to his limits by a guilty conscience seeking peace with the divine.

Barely had the confession settled into public discourse, barely had it made its way into the consciousness of the Nigerian people, before the same man returned to vomit a disclaimer, claiming that his account was hacked. He blamed the ‘hackers’ who seem to only appear in Nigeria when politicians are caught red handed in their own rope of lies. He now wants Nigerians to believe that his soul did not speak, that his fingers did not type what his heart knew to be true. Except that we were not born yesterday. Even the gods of our land can tell a voice of confession from a badly arranged lie.

It is not the first time Nigerian politicians or their foot soldiers have hidden behind the curtain of “my account was hacked.” We have seen it with governors, senators, even presidential aides. It has become the lazy escape route when the truth escapes from their lips faster than their lies can catch up, but this particular one is different. It came with too much detail, too much precision, too much depth for a random hacker. The grammar was consistent, the structure matched his usual tone, and the timing came at a moment of national tension surrounding Senator Natasha’s ongoing political battles. The alleged hack lasted just long enough for one post to be made, and conveniently disappeared right after. Is that how hackers behave? Is that how cybercrime works? Or was it simply the Spirit of Truth whispering too loudly in the ears of a man who knew too much and had stayed silent for too long?

The truth is, confessions like these do not come from a place of accident. They come from conviction. They come from the guilt that haunts a man after he realises that he has become a pawn in a wicked game. Kenny Okolugbo may have been used, and used badly. The men he covered for did not honour him, did not shield him, did not protect him. When the fire began to burn, they abandoned him to carry the cross alone. Perhaps he thought he was indispensable. Perhaps he thought that if he protected them, they would protect him. Now he has found himself in the middle of a scandal so rotten, he cannot even tell the difference between his own truth and their lies.

The Nigerian people must not be deceived by this sudden turn of narrative. What Kenny wrote, he wrote from his soul. That was a man seeking redemption. That was not a hacker. That was a whistleblower whose voice grew louder than the threats around him. Let us not allow powerful men to intimidate those who finally choose to speak up. Let us not permit fear to bury a truth that was already born.

As our ancestors say, “When a man spits into the sky, it will fall back on his face.” Kenny Okolugbo spat out the truth, and now the truth is falling like rain. No matter how fast he tries to run, the ground is already wet.

History has recorded this confession. He may try to delete it, but the internet does not forget. Let the Senate President come out and respond. Let Sandra Duru come forward and speak. Let the APC tell us how far they are willing to go just to protect Godswill Akpabio who is trying so hard to silence a woman who dared to rise from Kogi Central. For now, let Kenny wrestle with his conscience, and let Nigerians rise with their eyes wide open.

This country may not have justice, but we have memory. And memory, when stirred, becomes a revolution.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Writer | Political Analyst | Public Speaker | Pan-African

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In a country where suspicion is the default reaction to leadership, it is no surprise that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s recent personal journey to the United States was immediately twisted by idle talkers into a matter of politics. Many, with no facts but driven by the inertia of social media gossip, began to murmur that she had absconded, or gone underground. Those words, of course, were only rumoured by minds too lazy to think and too eager to destroy. What these people failed to ask, and what must now be boldly stated, is that the trip was entirely personal and not sponsored by the Senate, neither paid for with government funds, and nor connected in any form to political escape. It was a private mission. Yet, in the process of what others saw as leisure, she turned it into a rare opportunity for strategic engagement, one of foresight that separates true leaders from mere career politicians.

The Senator met with some of the most influential economic voices in Washington, including Mark Meadows, a former Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump, and a strong voice in American conservative leadership. She engaged with congressmen, business executives, and patriotic individuals who care about Africa’s role in the new global economy. This wasn’t a holiday snap moment, but an honest conversation about how Nigeria, if guided by people with vision and not just slogans, can take advantage of America’s urgent need for raw materials, low cost labour, and credible partnerships. The West is in search of cheaper production centres, and Nigeria stands in a unique position to fill that gap. The question is… do we have leaders bold enough to present Nigeria as a serious player? Senator Natasha stood up and showed that we do.

This is the same Senator Natasha who once faced a system that refused to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Mill, until she began to dig up documents, expose secret letters, publish archived photographs and challenge the falsehoods fed to the public for decades. She faced that battle with neither the backing of the political elite nor the comfort of political godfathers. She took on the might of corruption and stood alone, armed only with truth, documents, and uncommon courage. That same spirit is what she took to the United States. She spoke not as a lobbyist, or a trader in promises, but as a patriotic Nigerian who sees opportunity and seeks national good, even while others are asleep at the wheel. She did not travel for photo ops but went to open doors for the good of the nation.

From mineral exports to agriculture, from information technology to honest trade alliances, she raised questions Nigerian leaders should have asked years ago. She mentioned names of minerals some Nigerians have never heard of such as, monazite, coltan, xenotime and so on. Yet, these same minerals are the foundation of the world’s tech revolution. They lie buried under the soil in states where children are killed in the name of religion, yet the real war has always been for what lies beneath the ground. She exposed what many are too scared to say: that the conflict in some Nigerian communities has nothing to do with belief or worship, but everything to do with controlling natural wealth. These are not the words of a tourist, but the words of a leader with courage to say what others prefer to bury.

She went further to suggest practical, actionable steps. From renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), to strengthening trade frameworks like TIFA, to rethinking our ambassadorial appointments and everything she said was laced with urgency, clarity, and patriotic anger.

Her vision is clear: Nigeria must stop being a begging bowl and start acting like a nation that owns its wealth. What makes her position even more powerful is the fact that this wasn’t a government mandate or a paid international duty, but her personal initiative. She did what ministers should have done and what the trade attachés of embassies failed to do. She did what a patriotic citizen does when given a little window into power; she spoke for her country.

It is time Nigerians begin to see through the dust thrown by envious voices. Those who say she is controversial have no idea what true leadership looks like. They have grown so used to mediocrity that excellence irritates them. Senator Natasha is not a threat to Nigeria but the awakening Nigeria and Nigerians needs. She is not running away from any battle, but drawing up maps of victory while her peers are trading blames. This is what happens when a woman refuses to sit still, even when pushed out. This is what happens when a visionary refuses to be defined by her scars.

From the mines of Kogi to the halls of Washington, Senator Natasha has made it clear that her eyes are set on building the Nigeria many only talk about in motivational quotes. She is already doing the work.

Let no one ever say again that her trip was for politics because it was not. Let no one reduce this to selfish ambition, for it was not. What she did, without budget or federal allocation, is the work of a trade minister, an ambassador, and a head of state rolled into one. She spoke for a Nigeria yet to wake up to its strength. She planted seeds that could grow into trade agreements, joint ventures, and economic revolution. Her presence in America was not for survival but for strategy. Those who still don’t see it are either pretending or simply afraid of a woman who refuses to sit back while men waste the country.

Nigeria needs minds that think beyond elections and Senator Natasha is one of them. She is not just fighting for relevance, but building relevance. History, when it is written honestly, will remember who stood up when others stayed seated. History will remember Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from Kogi Central.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Political Analyst | Speaker | Pan-African

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In a confession that now confirms what many Nigerians had long suspected, Sir Kenny Okolugbo, who is the strategic communications consultant to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has publicly admitted to being part of a criminal conspiracy to tarnish the image of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Posted on his twitter handle in the early hours of Eid-el-Kabir, Kenny’s message came clothed in what appeared to be a moment of spiritual repentance. He wrote, “To err is human, but forgiveness is divine.” What followed was a line by line admission that implicated not just himself, but his principal, the Senate President, of Godswill Akpabio in what can only be described as one of the most coordinated acts of political character assassination in recent memory.

According to Kenny, multiple meetings were held in London, involving controversial figure Sandra Duru, whom many has called SCAMDRA, where strategies were hatched to damage Senator Natasha’s rising political image. He confessed to the manipulation of her voice recordings, a move many analysts had earlier suspected. He also confirmed that Senator Natasha’s phones were hacked and cloned, allowing fabricated messages and planted recordings to be pushed into the public space all with one goal: to destroy her reputation and reduce her political credibility to ashes.

This is not a propaganda but a direct confession from a top media aide within Akpabio’s inner cabal.

Just a month ago, this same Kenny Okolugbo attempted to spin a false narrative during the now infamous live stream by one impostor Professor Mgbeke, an online fraudulent agitator for hire. During that live broadcast, a WhatsApp call from “Senator Akpabio SP” flashed across the screen. It was visible, clear, and undeniable. Nigerians saw it with their own eyes. In what many considered an insult to the public’s intelligence, Kenny went on live interviews to claim that the number in question was his, not the Senate President’s. He suggested that what we all saw the name “Senator Akpabio SP” clearly displayed, was somehow “Senator Akpabio SP Okolugbo. It was indeed a laughable moment in the political PR history.

How time flies, he has walked back the lie. He is now saying in his own words that Senator Akpabio orchestrated the entire campaign against Senator Natasha.

He has begged for forgiveness and asked Senator Natasha to find it in her heart to pardon him. He has even pleaded for Allah’s mercy.

What This Confession Means

This is no longer politics as usual but we are now staring at possible criminal offences: conspiracy, cybercrime, defamation, and coordinated disinformation campaigns using state backed actors.

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has, for months, stood firm under pressure. She has endured social media attacks, doctored audios, false accusations, and sustained character assassination; all while maintaining her dignity. Now we know: the woman was hunted by powerful men who could not stand a fearless, competent female lawmaker with a backbone of steel.

What they failed to destroy with propaganda is now bouncing back to haunt them with truth.

Kenny’s confession also raises a bigger question of… if this level of deceit could be organised against one senator for refusing to spread her legs for favour, how many other lies are we yet to uncover in our politics? Who else is sitting on a throne of blackmail and fraud?

The Senate President must now be asked tough questions. His strategic aide has confessed and Nigerians deserve answers.

To those like Mgbeke, who danced for coins and traded their name to serve lies; the truth is catching up. You stood in front of cameras and tried to convince a nation that what they saw clearly with their eyes wasn’t real. You tried to deceive the same people whose votes determine the future of this country, but now, even your paymasters are turning themselves in. This is only the beginning.

Kenny Okolugbo’s confession is not just a personal apology, but a historic document. It confirms that corruption is not only about stolen money, but also about stolen truth.

Senator Natasha deserves Justice and Nigerians deserve the full story. Those involved in this wicked conspiracy must face the law, no matter their rank.

Today, truth has started speaking. Let the whole country listen.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Political Analyst | Speaker | Pan-African

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In any country where democracy is taken seriously, the legislature is not a shrine reserved for praise singers and cowards. It is a battleground of ideas, accountability and opposition. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, too many have turned it into a clubhouse for transactional loyalty, where silence is mistaken for wisdom, and truth is sacrificed on the altar of convenience. What is happening between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio must be seen beyond the surface of gender, ego or legislative decorum. It is far deeper than what the average headline suggests. It is, in fact, the opening match of a political war that will define who holds the pen in 2027 and beyond.

Those familiar with the real workings of power in Nigeria know that every significant political confrontation is never truly about the moment it occurs. It is about what that moment might unlock or destroy in the years to come. Senator Natasha’s confrontation with Akpabio is not just a bold outburst from a Senator; it is in fact, a dangerous disruption of a system that has operated quietly for decades without proper interrogation. Her defiance is not just an act of courage, but an indictment of the political order that regards questioning authority as disloyalty and calling for reform as rebellion.

Godswill Akpabio is not just a Senate President by election, but a representation of the old political class that has mastered the art of self preservation. Those who supported his emergence did not do so on the strength of moral character or legislative brilliance. They chose him to be a gatekeeper of entrenched interests, to protect those who do not want light to reach certain files and conversations. His position is both reward and assignment. In that assignment, his first duty is to ensure that the Senate does not become a threat to the executive or to the interests of those behind the curtain.

The problem now is that Senator Natasha is not cooperating with that script. She is not playing the obedient woman card, or dressing her words in politically correct Abaya. She is in fact, saying what most insiders are gossip but are too afraid to publicly air. She is exposing what others are too scared to even write in their diaries. Her outburst in the red chamber was not some premeditated rehearsals, but raw, unfiltered, and, most importantly, true. It is not just Senator Akpabio that is embarrassed. The entire system is rattled because when you allow one Senator to question the system, others may follow just follow suit.

Many have asked why her confrontation has generated so much reaction, and the answer is simple… she is not one of their own. She did not climb the ladder by begging or kneeling for anyone. She fought a brutal electoral war in Kogi, survived legal landmines, and earned her seat through an absolute bravery. Unlike many others in the chamber, her loyalty is not tied to a political godfather or a compromised institution. That independence is what makes her even more dangerous and a threat. That is precisely why Akpabio and those behind him cannot afford to ignore her.

This is where the comparison with Donald Trump and Joe Biden becomes too relevant. In the United States, Biden and the Democratic Party understood that Trump was not just a political rival, but a threat to their hold on power. So they mobilised every available institutional tool, media, medicals, courts, party structure in a bid to isolate him. If Biden had not won in 2020, Trump’s return would have buried several people politically and legally. The survival instinct kicked in, and that is exactly what is playing out now in the Nigerian Senate.

Make no mistake, Senator Natasha’s boldness has unsettled some powerful forces. If she succeeds in drawing public attention to the rot within the Senate or the excesses of Akpabio’s leadership, it will embolden other dissenters. It may encourage journalists to dig deeper. It may cause anti-corruption agencies to look more closely at matters that have been gathering dust. This is why she is being painted as disrespectful, unstable and emotional. The goal is to isolate her, to discredit her voice, and to remind others of what happens when you step out of line.

However, there is another path this can take. If she is silenced, it will send a chilling signal to younger politicians, especially women, that the system cannot be challenged. It will reinforce the message that power belongs to those who protect the interests of the political cartel. It will declare that the Senate is not a place for honesty or reform but for ritual silence and scripted loyalty. That is the real danger, and one that the public must understand.

The 2027 elections are not far. What we are witnessing now is not just a clash of personalities but a rehearsal for the larger battle. Those who speak today may either be silenced or elevated tomorrow. Those who abuse power today may find themselves answering questions under a new government. The same Senate that protects Akpabio today may turn against him once the wind changes. This is Nigeria and nothing is permanent, except for interest.

Senator Natasha may not have a battalion behind her, but she has something even far more dangerous and that is the public’s attention. In a country where the people are used to betrayal and manipulation, a single act of genuine defiance can travel far. She must now build on that, not with noise or emotion, but with strategy and evidence. If she combines her courage with calculation, she will not only survive this moment, she will shape the next chapter of Nigerian politics.

Those dismissing this confrontation as a woman overreaching herself are missing the plot. This has nothing to do with gender but everything to do with power. Those who understand Nigerian politics know that when power feels threatened, it fights back which is never with arguments, but with weapons… political, legal and sometimes, even physical.

This is a battle of survival for Senator Natasha, but it is also a moment of reckoning for Godswill Akpabio. He may crush her today with procedure and majority votes, but history has a long memory, and power has a short expiry date. When 2027 comes, the very things she is exposing may become the tools others use to pull the carpet from under his feet.

Let no one be deceived. The real war has begun, and it is not being fought with guns or protests. It is being fought in chambers, in courts, in newsrooms, in WhatsApp groups, and on the lips of voters. Those who are watching should watch well, because this is not a quarrel. This is politics at its highest level.

And in politics, it is not always the strongest who wins. It is the most prepared.

Written By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Political Analyst | Writer | Speaker | Pan-African

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In what may be the boldest political deception of this era, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has become the target of a criminal plot that involves cloning her phone number and more dangerously, her voice. Across the country, several individuals have come forward claiming they received phone calls from the senator. Some say she spoke to them. Some are certain they heard her familiar tone, cadence and choice of words. In fact, even her own mother was convinced the voice she heard belonged to her daughter. Quite unfortunately, Senator Natasha never made those calls.

The number that is calling people is not hers but a fraudulent clone. The voice people hear on the line is not hers either, but a manipulated audio, generated and designed to mimic her with the intention to deceive, confuse and damage her public image. The senator has since abandoned that line, and a formal petition has been submitted to the Nigerian Police. Except that, until now, nothing has been done. No proper action has been taken, no investigation has been made into it, and not even a public statement from the authorities. The silence may be interpreted as very loud and politically deliberate.

Another audio was recently released by one Mgbeke parading herself as Prof., a name tied to known smear campaigns. It was another fake, another lie fabricated in the senator’s stolen voice. The aim is has always been to flood the public space with manipulated content and destroy her credibility right before her next political appearance.

Any call or voice note from that line is fake and should be treated with the contempt it deserves. Senator Natasha is no stranger to persecution. Her rise has unsettled many and her boldness in speaking truth to power has earned her enemies in high places, but no matter how many voices they forge, no matter how many numbers they clone… her truth cannot be erased. This is not just a technical crime, but a moral one. It is a political ambush, an attack on democracy, voice and choice.

Brace up, Nigeria. More of such audio fabrications may be released in the coming days, but you must not fall for them. You must not help spread them. You must not dignify lies by entertaining them. To the enemies of truth: your wickedness will not stand. To those behind the voice clone: you have cloned everything but her destiny.

When next the call comes, remember: It is not her and it was never her. They are coming for her, but one by one, they shall fail.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Writer | Political Analyst | Speaker | Pan-African | Witness of truth |

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The Federal Capital Territory High Court, under the authority of Honourable Justice Idris Kutigi, has summoned the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to appear before it on the 9th of June, 2025, to answer to a suit that carries not only weight in monetary terms, but gravity in moral consequence. The case, filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, seeks N100 billion in damages for defamation, and its not just as a mere financial remedy, but as a statement against what she describes as deliberate falsehood calculated to damage her reputation.

The court’s order follows the Senate President’s failure to appear on the 7th of May. Upon application by Senator Natasha’s legal team, led by Barrister Victor Giwa, the court granted leave for substituted service. That order has since been executed through the Clerk of the National Assembly, thereby stripping the defence of any excuse for absence or procedural delay.

The suit stands as a sharp rebuke to the reckless use of language by those in high office who have come to believe that the power they wield is immune from accountability. What Senator Natasha is confronting is not merely the personal affront to her dignity, but a dangerous culture in which position is weaponised against truth, and public platforms are used to soil private names without restraint.

This is the point where the line must be drawn. For too long, political figures have traded in rumours, accusations, and unfounded insults, often escaping scrutiny by hiding behind titles, privileges, or the noise of partisan gossip chambers. However, as this suit clearly shows, power may intimidate the weak, but it cannot erase the call of justice when properly summoned.

Senator Natasha’s recourse to the law, rather than responding in kind with media attacks or press wars, is a profound display of maturity and discipline in a political environment that thrives on drama and distraction. Her decision to approach the court is not an act of vengeance, but a commitment to due process and a rare kind of leadership in a season of personal grudges masked as political strategy.

It must be said without flinching that no public office holder, no matter how exalted, has the license to defame others with impunity. The doctrine of separation of powers does not confer the right to slander. The immunity of office does not shield against the obligation to speak truthfully, nor does it protect a man who descends into baseless character attacks. There comes a time when people must understand that power does not cancel consequence. Title is not a shield against truth, and office is not a cover for misconduct.

As we approach the 9th of June, all eyes will naturally turn towards the courtroom, which is not because of political rivalry, but due to what the outcome may mean for the moral hygiene of our public institutions. The question is not whether Senator Akpabio is guilty or innocent; that is for the court to determine. The question, for now, is whether he will face the law with honour or hide behind protocol. If he believes in the truth, he must come forward and defend his words.

What is unfolding here goes beyond Senator Natasha as well as it goes beyond Akpabio. It concerns the future of how public discourse is conducted by those elected to lead. It speaks to whether we are building a democracy of substance or a noisy gathering of privileged men drunk on impunity.

In this case, the law is not just a mechanism, but a reflection to character. This matter may well define not only reputations but the boundaries of what we tolerate as acceptable conduct in the corridors of power.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Political Analyst | Speaker | Author | Pan-African

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In an explosive revelation aired live on Friday, the 30th of May, 2025, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan made it emphatically clear that she never, at any time, held any form of conversation with one Dr Sandra Duru, the now controversial figure who claims to be a key witness against the Senator. Speaking with clarity, calm, and composure during a YouTube livestream interview hosted by journalist Adeola Fayehun, the Kogi Central lawmaker laid bare the full truth of what transpired between her and the woman who introduced herself falsely as “Professor Mgbeke.”

“I did not speak with any Dr. Sandra Duru, but I did spoke with someone who presented herself as Professor Mgbeke,” Senator Natasha declared without blinking. “It was a friend of mine, Ina Agu, whom I’ve known for over ten years, who asked me to reach out to a woman posting in my support. That woman identified herself as a Professor of Psychology, affiliated with the United Nations and several international bodies. I had no reason to doubt her.” In detailing the exchange, Natasha noted that her friend had, in the past, introduced her to several Nigerians who expressed public support for her during moments of political adversity. On this particular occasion, Ina assured her that the woman, known only as “Professor Mgbeke of Facebook,” had been vocal in defending her rights amid the Senate’s attempts to humiliate and unjustly suspend her.

Senator Natasha recounted how, in her usual spirit of gratitude, she called the woman to say thank you. During the brief call, Mgbeke, who spoke with the confidence of someone used to deception, described herself as a victim of sexual harassment and claimed that her daughter had suffered the same fate. This was how she sold herself into the conversation, insisting that her campaign for Natasha was about fighting for women globally. “She said it wasn’t about me,” Senator Natasha recalled. “She said she was fighting for all Nigerian women. She even claimed she had written books and worked with UNICEF and WHO.” However, as Senator Natasha would later learn, the woman’s identity was fake, the affiliations were false, and even the books she referenced were products of AI generated writing.

Senator Natasha explained that during their conversation, she had expressed discomfort at the objectification she was facing in public spaces. She emphasised that she wanted Nigerians to see her not as a beautiful woman but as a competent lawmaker, with verifiable qualifications and track record. Mgbeke seized on that sentiment to ask for copies of her credentials to publish what she claimed would be an article defending Senator Natasha’s competence. In good faith, the Senator forwarded 15 separate documents from primary school testimonial to her Law School certificate, her MBA qualifications and even professional training from Harvard’s Executive Programmes.

It was this innocent gesture that would later be twisted and weaponised by the same woman, who had by then abandoned the Mgbeke persona and reemerged in public as Dr Sandra Duru. Sandra would go on to allege that Natasha offered her money to help her blackmail the Senate President. “It’s all lies. Nobody can forge fifteen messages and send them in one minute,” Senator Natasha said, countering Sandra’s claims with timestamps, receipts and a full breakdown of the message trail. “Everything she said I deleted were in fact my school certificates and supporting credentials.”

According to Senator Natasha, she is working with forensic experts to extract every message exchanged, which were sent via WhatsApp, a platform with server history capable of exposing deleted or manipulated content. Senator Natasha also disclosed that she had just returned from the United States, where she was in touch with legal and technical experts to prepare for the case. “We will get to the bottom of this,” she vowed.

From the interview, it became clear that the person Sandra Duru presented to the Nigerian public was a carefully manufactured illusion, sustained through voice cloning, social media manipulation and misrepresentation of identity. The Senator’s account not only raises serious concerns about the legal credibility of the so called star witness being pushed by Senate loyalists, but also brings to question the level of coordination between politically exposed persons and shadowy operatives hiding under foreign sounding titles.

This revelation now places a heavy burden on the Federal Government, and more critically on the Senate President, who is yet to issue any denial or clarification about his alleged interest in the ongoing character assault against Senator Natasha. If indeed Sandra Duru is a sponsored voice cloner, using the persona of Professor Mbeke to extract sensitive material and distort public perception, then Nigeria may be standing on the brink of the most disgraceful political scandal in recent democratic history.

The burden of truth now shifts fully on the accusers. The public must begin to ask: if Professor Mbeke never existed, and Sandra Duru is hiding behind that mask, who exactly is financing her deceit?

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Political Analyst | Author | Speaker | Pan-African

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In what now appears to be a rapidly unravelling plot laced with deceit, fabrication, and digital impersonation, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has come forward with more damning revelations that could dismantle the federal case allegedly built on a foundation of lies orchestrated by self styled “Professor Mgbeke” Sandra Duru: a woman now at the centre of one of the most disgraceful political scandals Nigeria has witnessed in recent years.

Speaking from London in a YouTube Live interview, the embattled senator, who confirmed her return to Nigeria in time for the scheduled court appearance on June 3rd at 2pm, categorically debunked allegations that she ever discussed bribery, blackmail, or tribal hate during her short lived communication with Sandra Duru. She disclosed that her entire voice conversation with the woman lasted only 37 minutes and focused purely on appreciation and advocacy, and nothing more. However, four hours after that single call, Sandra sent what the senator described as a well crafted text message, soliciting a contract and asking “how she would be taken care of,” a development that now raises serious questions about Sandra’s real motives and her sudden emergence as a witness for the federal government.

Senator Natasha made it clear that at no point in their brief encounter did she ever deny her sexual harassment allegations against the Senate President, nor did she call Nigerians “gullible and hungry” as falsely attributed to her in the yet to be released doctored audio tapes from the impostor Prof. Mgbeke.

“I never said anything about destroying Tinubu’s government or poisoning my husband. The nonsense about calling FIDA or anyone else a ‘useful idiot’ is a complete fabrication of Sandra’s lies. If they have evidence, let them bring it before the court. I’m ready,” she said.

The senator expressed deep suspicion that Prof. Mgbeke, now Sandra Duru, who she believed was a genuine women’s rights advocate, used AI voice cloning technology to manufacture audio evidence against her. She noted the tone mismatch in some leaked recordings, pointing out that her real voice during interviews and direct phone conversations had clearly been tampered with to stitch together falsehoods. “She took my real voice saying things I never said, and inserted other digitally manipulated statements I never made. I know how I sound, and that’s not me,” Senator Natasha insisted.

The senator further disclosed that Sandra sent a long message post call, positioning herself as a potential mediator in the sexual harassment case. In her message, Sandra reportedly wrote: “Please let me know if you would like to formally engage my services or support my team in executing the strategy we have carefully put together to resolve this matter effectively.” Senator Natasha questioned: “How does someone I supposedly paid ₦200 million to blackmail the Senate President begin their message with a language like that?”

She read out the message word-for-word during the interview. Sandra had requested details about Natasha’s goals, timelines, and even offered to coordinate a closed door negotiation involving Senator Akpabio, her husband, and Senator Natasha herself. “She was angling for a formal engagement and even asked if we should all meet somewhere to resolve the case. It’s clear now she was fishing for a contract, for influence, for money, and for leverage,” Senator Natasha said.

In reply, Senator Natasha politely declined and maintained a tone of professionalism, referring to her as “Dear Professor” and reiterating that she had only reached out out of appreciation and solidarity on gender based advocacy. “If you stop chanting our cause, know I still deeply appreciate your sisterhood spirit,” she wrote, making it clear she would not be going into any contract with Prof. Mgbeke, who now parades as one Sandra Duru.

Rather than back off, Sandra doubled down, claiming in a follow up message that her work had nothing to do with money and insisted that formalising their arrangement was simply for “clarity, coordination and commitment.” Senator Natasha scoffed at this, saying “Only God knows what kind of invoice she would have dropped if I had fallen for it. She was preparing the ground for extortion masked in flowery English.”

Perhaps the most shocking part of the revelation was Senator Natasha’s confirmation that all these messages and conversations had already been printed, digitally archived, and sent to Nigerian security agencies, yet no single inquiry was made into Sandra’s criminal attempt to bait her into a contractual arrangement, nor into the fabrication of damaging audio evidence.

“It’s sad that the police are even entertaining this woman as a federal witness. She was pushing for a contract that I turned down, and now she wants to hang me in public with forged tapes and false accusations? It’s laughable,” Senator Natasha said.

She reminded the Nigerian public that her political grievances are not against President Tinubu or the Nigerian Senate, but strictly targeted at the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, whom she accuses of using the federal institutions as a personal weapon to crush dissent. She acknowledged that she had met President Tinubu on occasion to brief him on critical issues like the Ajaokuta steel probe, and he had never once disapproved.

Senator Natasha ended the interview by assuring Nigerians that she would not run, but would appear in court, and would defend her integrity with truth and evidence. “This fight is not just about me, but about women. It’s about the danger of fake advocacy, and it’s about not letting charlatans hijack our democracy. Sandra Duru’s not just lying to the world, but mocking the pain of real victims, and that cannot go unchallenged.”

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Author | Speaker | Political Analyst | Pan-African

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In a revelation that has sent tremors through Nigeria’s political landscape, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has laid bare a disturbing pattern of systemic pressure and veiled corruption at the heart of the 10th National Assembly. Speaking during a live interview with Adeola Fayehun on the 30th of May 2025, the Senator from Kogi Central recounted a troubling encounter with the Senate President, which many now say may finally expose what has long been said in murmuring tones behind closed doors; the use of legislative privilege for personal gain. Her story begins with a seemingly benign question posed by the Senate President barely three months after her appointment as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content. “Senator, you haven’t reported progress,” he allegedly said. Like any diligent legislator, she returned with a detailed PowerPoint presentation of her activities, but what followed revealed something far more sinister than parliamentary oversight.

According to Senator Natasha, the phrase “report progress” was not a request for updates or committee milestones, but a coded language for financial remittance, and what her senior colleague reportedly described as “kickbacks.” It was, in simple terms, a demand to monetise her office by harassing government agencies and ministers under her oversight, particularly in the oil and gas sector, and to funnel those resources upward. The alleged expectation was that if she wished to retain her position as committee chairperson, she must convert her authority into a pipeline of money and patronage, with the Senate President at the receiving end. “He said I should go and meet a senior senator to educate me,” she explained. That senator, in turn, told her point blank: it was not progress reports they were demanding, it was money, contracts, influence. “Report progress,” it seems, is not a phrase for governance, but for extortion; a reality as shameful as it is dangerous.

What makes this disclosure particularly damning is not just the content, but the timing. Senator Natasha was suspended from the Senate shortly after raising issues of sexual harassment against the same Senate President, an action she now believes was both premeditated and retaliatory. The outburst that followed her forced removal from the chamber was not spontaneous, she says, but a response to being silenced mid speech while invoking Order 10(b) of the Senate Standing Rules, which clearly grants any senator the right to raise a matter of privilege immediately. “I was kicked out as though I was his domestic help,” she said, recounting how the Senate President ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to take her away and told the Clerk to prepare her suspension. That decision, she insists, was not constitutional, nor procedural. It was personal and rooted in vendetta and patriarchal entitlement, laced with disdain for a female colleague who refused to cower before corrupt power.

The implications of her testimony are far-reaching. If true, it confirms that committee chairpersons may be placed under pressure to monetise their positions, not in service to the Nigerian people, but to satisfy an insatiable appetite for kickbacks at the very top. Senator Natasha’s refusal to comply has allegedly cost her her position. She was removed as Chair of the Local Content Committee just days after the groundbreaking of five mini LNG plants in Kogi; projects which she said were approved by the President himself. The Senate President, according to her, questioned several key figures, including the Minister of State for Petroleum and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development Board, about how such massive developments could have happened in Kogi without his permission or involvement. That suspicion alone, she says, reflects the entitlement mindset, that any success not linked to the Senate President’s personal influence must be undermined.

This is no longer just a political rift between two senators, but an exposure of a rotten culture at the apex of Nigeria’s legislative institution. A culture that expects public officials to convert state power into private benefit. A culture where a female senator’s achievements must be “sanctioned” by a male superior or else risk sabotage. A culture where sexual innuendos and clothed threats are masked behind official titles and parliamentary gowns. Senator Natasha’s courage to speak up, many observers believe, may open the floodgates for others to come forward. She has called for every senator who chairs a committee to speak out, asking them to be honest about whether they too have been asked to “report progress.” In her words, “Deliverables are not tied to performance under this Senate; they are tied to returns.”

Whether or not the Senate President responds to these allegations, the conversation has already begun. Nigerians are now asking questions…

What exactly does “reporting progress” mean in a Senate where billions are budgeted but little is seen on the ground? How many chairmen have kept their positions by paying homage through returns? How many honest voices have been silenced because they refused to play ball? Senator Natasha’s interview may be just the beginning of what could become the most explosive revelation in the 10th Senate. She did not mince words, or hide behind legalese. She spoke like a woman with nothing left to fear, because when truth finally meets power, something always breaks.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Speaker | Political analyst | Author | Pan-African

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Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has categorically denied ever accusing former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, of sexual harassment. In a detailed public clarification made during a YouTube live interview with Adeola Fayehun, Senator Natasha described as false and misleading the claims suggesting that she had previously levelled sexual misconduct allegations against Mr Omokri.

She recalled a social media comment she made years ago in response to one of Reno’s posts, where she referenced a personal encounter at the Presidential Villa’s Banquet Hall during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit in 2014.

According to Senator Natasha, Mr. Omokri had approached her and asked for her name and contact. She gave him a fake name and phone number, and the interaction ended there. She stressed that the comment was made in defence of a young girl from her ward being dragged online and was never framed as a sexual harassment allegation.

“This is the only time I ever spoke about him, and even then, it wasn’t sexual harassment. I only said he made an advance towards me and I gave him a fake name and a fake number. That was all,” she stated.

She expressed deep concern over what she called an orchestrated attempt to twist the facts and falsely align her with multiple unrelated allegations. She also mentioned that Mr Omokri later posted travel documents to suggest he was not in the country at the time of the said event. However, she stood by her account, stating, “People know how to get fake travel stamps and tickets. I can get a travel agent to print tickets to ten countries right now, and that doesn’t mean I travelled.”

Senator Natasha further stated that she was shocked to hear Reno Omokri publicly claim that she had accused him of harassment or that he had received payments from her or her husband. “I never paid him anything, and neither did my husband,” she said firmly, challenging him to provide evidence to support the wild allegations.

The Senator warned that if the false accusations continue, she would be left with no choice but to take legal action against Mr Omokri for defamation, insisting that there is no record, written or oral, where she accused him of sexual misconduct. She expressed disappointment that a political commentator of his calibre would descend into fabricating events in a bid to align himself with the ruling party at the expense of her reputation.

Her remarks appeared not just as a defence of her integrity, but also a clear message that the politics of mudslinging and manipulation will not go unchallenged, especially when it involves making up a serious issue like sexual harassment.

By ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Speaker | Political Analyst | Author | Pan-African

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Senator Natasha Senator Akpabio

In a bold and emotionally stirring interview that aired live on YouTube with renowned journalist Adeola Fayehun, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has laid bare the truth about her long standing sexual harassment allegation against the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio. Speaking with striking clarity, the Senator from Kogi State dismissed all distractions and reaffirmed her claims, insisting without hesitation that “sexual harassment did happen… and it happened a number of times.”

Senator Natasha revealed that the harassment created a hostile environment within the National Assembly, to the point where she stopped using common spaces such as the cafeteria, choosing hunger over exposure to what she described as a toxic atmosphere. She stated that the Senate President often made remarks that left her uncomfortable, to the applause and laughter of bystanders, without any regard for her dignity. Her words were soaked in conviction, not the tone of a woman seeking pity or payment, but one seeking space to breathe and work.

She also exposed the failure of institutional redress, revealing that she was never called to present her case before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, and that even when a Presidential panel was set up earlier this year to look into the matter, she was contacted and ready to testify, but the Senate President allegedly pulled out of the process, abruptly shutting down what could have been the first step to justice.

Senator Natasha, who maintained an unshakable poise during the interview, insisted that her decision to speak out had nothing to do with financial settlement or political leverage. In her words, “There is pretty much nothing the Senate President will do for me that God has not already blessed me with. I didn’t speak up because I wanted money or settlement, I just needed a safe space to work.”

She described the Senate President as a man who could not take NO for an answer, explaining that the harassment she endured went beyond verbal comments. It became systemic, manifesting as isolation, professional obstruction, and malicious power play. She described how her attempts to lodge formal complaints were repeatedly ignored, and her evidence, she says, is intact and will be presented at the appropriate time before the appropriate body.

The Kogi Senator concluded by noting that sexual harassment is more common in Nigeria than people admit, and that many women carry their trauma silently, even into their graves. Her outcry is, according to her, not just for herself, but for countless Nigerian women whose voices have been stifled by shame, fear, or threats.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Speaker | Author | Political Analyst | Pan-African

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There are moments in national affairs when a single image reveals far more than a thousand official press statements ever could. One such moment has arrived, and it comes in the form of a seemingly casual photograph of a woman who has long lurked at the edge of controversy. In the image, Sandra Duru, aka Prof. Mgbeke, a person with no known government portfolio or legitimate public office, is seated comfortably inside a vehicle whose leather seats bear the majestic embroidery of the Nigerian Coat of Arms. This car does not belong to the common class of official convoys one finds speeding through Abuja or Lagos. In Nigeria, even the Senate President himself, who ranks as the third most powerful man in the country, does not parade in a car bearing such exaggerated embroidery of state identity within the borders of the Republic. It is a configuration that exists almost exclusively in diplomatic fleets stationed abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom, where Nigerian embassies and state envoys operate under special arrangements. This now forces an urgent question into public discourse: how did Sandra Duru, the Mgbeke impostor professor, a woman with no formal government ties, gain access to such a vehicle and under what capacity was she allowed to take a selfie as though she had earned her way into the state machinery?

When one considers the available facts and applies reason, only one logical conclusion can be drawn. Sandra was not alone in that car; she was there as a guest, a guest of someone powerful enough to authorise such access, someone who could activate the privileges of the Nigerian state even on foreign soil. The signs point directly in one direction. If Sandra is inside a vehicle reserved only for top ranking Nigerian diplomats abroad, and she has no office, no appointment, and no legal authority to be there, then her host must be a senior political figure. Since the individual currently under public scrutiny for orchestrating a federal assault on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, then it becomes difficult for any intelligent observer to separate this coincidence from conspiracy. That person, as increasingly obvious, is the Senate President, Akpabio. The connection is no longer speculative, but evident that Sandra Duru is not just acting as a private citizen. She is on assignment, and she is being used as a political missile, whose target is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The picture is not just a harmless selfie. It is a plot in a larger political fabric; a scandal that now seems to have international coordinates, questionable funding, and a desperate mission.

It becomes more worrisome when we turn our attention from the vehicle to the woman inside it. For more than ten years, Sandra Duru has made herself a familiar figure in the scene of digital deception, blackmail-for-hire, online impersonation, and emotional manipulation. She has neither a business nor a job nor a ministry, yet she maintains a lifestyle that suggests deep pockets and unrestricted access. Since 2020, numerous whistleblowers and digital investigators have accused her of cloning voices and images, generating false media content to defame individuals, and creating fabricated evidence to support blackmail operations. Several victims, some of whom have remained anonymous out of fear, have traced back voice notes, photos, and online conversations to her digital activities. She operates not as a witness to truth, but as a fabricator of lies. Her Facebook posts are riddled with suspiciously filtered images and AI styled captions which, when studied, appear manufactured for targeted manipulation. There is no real content, only decoration. Except that this same woman is now being presented in court as a credible witness in a federal case concerning the alleged attempted assassination of a serving Senator of the Federal Republic?

The law does not permit courts to admit every passerby into the box of testimony. A witness must be credible. The credibility of a witness is not decided by who they know, who sponsors them, or who smuggled them into diplomatic vehicles in foreign lands. Credibility is established through a proven track record of truthfulness, personal integrity, and demonstrable neutrality. Sandra Duru fails every single one of these tests. She is not a bystander, but a character with an interest, a tool in the hands of those who seek to cover the sun with their bare fingers. She is the smiling face of institutional mischief, armed with technology and a deep understanding of how to bend public perception through AI generated lies and voice altered propaganda. In a country already drowning in manufactured narratives and distorted realities, this is not the type of person who should be anywhere near a court of law, let alone standing in as a Federal Government witness in a case of this magnitude.

It would be laughable if it were not so dangerous. The legal principle behind the admission of a witness demands credibility, integrity, and a history that can withstand scrutiny. Sandra has none of these.

The question then arises… Who conducted the background check on her? Who examined her history? Who verified her testimonies and digital history before presenting her in such a high profile matter? Nigeria is not a circus. Court proceedings are not games of guesswork. If this country still holds on to any shreds of legal integrity, then it is time someone within the judicial system asks how a digital fraudster, known for manipulating images and cloning voices, ended up as a federal witness. This is not only a judicial compromise, but a national humiliation. While Sandra posts AI filtered photographs of herself and voice cloned audio files online, a woman who has invested her life in development work, Senator Natasha, is being dragged into legal battles built on forgeries, fiction, and sponsored intimidation.

Let us not forget the case of Susie Wiles in the United States. She was nearly destroyed by a cloned voice note that was so perfect, even her closest allies doubted her innocence. The audio was spread with perfection and the accusation was so loud; but because America has a functioning justice system, digital forensic experts stepped in. They exposed the fraud and cleared her name. Today, the American government is debating a total ban or restriction on the use of such tools because of their capacity to destroy institutions and individuals alike. In Nigeria, however, a known manipulator whose entire identity is built around the misuse of AI is being treated as a federal informant. It is a slap in the face of our judiciary and a danger to every upright citizen who believes in truth and lawful governance.

Sandra Duru is not the victim of manipulation, but the master of it. She is a paid agent in a political game meant to destroy a woman who has refused to apologize for her truth before corrupt men.

What is playing out before our eyes is a carefully choreographed plot to silence one of the most courageous voices in modern Nigerian politics. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not just being targeted; she is being hunted. Her suspension from the Senate, her media attacks, the sabotage of her legacy projects, and now the fabrication of evidence through voice cloning mercenaries like Scamdra is not coincidence, but deliberate, sponsored, and it must be exposed. Sandra Duru, a voice cloning fraud with a dark series of dishonour, is not only their final insult, but they are using her as the main witness in a federal attack against Senator Natasha. This is the abuse of state power; cowardice masquerading as legality. It is a disgrace to the honour of the courts, and if the judiciary continues down this path, history will not forget.

Nigerians do not forget, and if this country will survive the coming decades with any respect in the comity of nations, then the truth must be defended while there is still time. The law must draw a line between justice and sponsored falsehood. Let Sandra Duru return to where she belongs: the home of scandal, not the centre of the courtroom.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Public Speaker | Political Analyst | Author | Pan-African

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There was a time not long ago when if a person spoke, you knew they had spoken. If a woman made a statement, she could defend it. If a man was accused, his voice could clear him. Now, in this strange world we are waking up to, a person can be condemned by words they never uttered and disgraced by actions they never committed. The case of Sandra Duru and the ongoing manipulation of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s voice is not some faraway science fiction story. It is a clear example of how deep this corruption has sunk. What we are seeing now is a generation of people who are not just stealing money, they are now stealing identity. They are no longer waiting to lie against you. They are creating the lie in your own voice and dressing it with your face.

When the FBI begins to investigate a case as serious as the impersonation of Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, it should shake the conscience of any country that is still pretending that this matter is a small thing. It is no longer about politics. It is now about truth and survival. Imagine the danger. A stranger reaches out to respected lawmakers in America, asking them for a list of people who should be pardoned, posing as one of the President’s top advisers. The person was believed at first. Messages were answered. Conversations went on. Until the mistake began to smell. That is how fragile the world has become. A criminal can hide behind a telephone screen and walk into the private corridors of power, without leaving their bedroom. They no longer need weapons to destroy a man’s reputation. All they need now is a copy of his voice and a stolen phone number.

This is the very madness that Sandra Duru represents. This is not a woman of credibility. It is public knowledge that her history is one of trouble. There are records of blackmail, stories of extortion and claims of impersonation. There is hardly any good thing tied to her name in recent years. What is troubling now is that this woman, who already has such a dangerous record, is now being linked to the cloning of Senator Natasha’s voice. A voice that speaks with grace, a voice that holds truth, a voice that has fought for the dignity of women in this country. For someone to sit in a dark room and manufacture such a voice for the purpose of confusion, mischief, or manipulation is not just criminal. It is wicked, evil, and nothing short of an attack on the very idea of identity and justice.

What kind of society are we building if a woman cannot even trust the sound of her own voice? If a video comes out tomorrow showing you saying things you never said, how will you defend yourself? When even the tone and expression sound like you? This is a serious matter. If an American official, sitting at the heart of the White House, can be impersonated through the very phone in her hand, then what chance does a young girl in Kogi have? What defence does a politician in Rivers State have? What protection does a business owner in Enugu have? None, and that is the frightening reality. If this madness is not stopped, the future will become a place where the truth will be buried by lies that look too real to question.

We cannot continue to joke with this issue. Already, private information has been leaked in the United States through unsecured group chats. Signal conversations among top officials have been exposed. Sensitive plans discussed carelessly. One wrong name added to a group, and private matters are now flying around in the hands of journalists. That is how foolish this digital age has made even the most powerful people. If they can be careless, how much more those of us in developing countries who lack both the discipline and the infrastructure to manage such threats? The Nigerian government must open its eyes. Those in charge must begin to look into these growing dangers, and not just as a form of technology, but as a new weapon that is already in the hands of dishonest people like Sandra Duru.

The truth is bitter, but it must be swallowed. We are now at the mercy of those who know how to use AI machines to lie. The person who owns your voice now owns your truth. The person who controls your image now controls your name. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is only the beginning. If nothing is done, many more will fall victim. Many more will be silenced by voices that are not theirs.

Sandra Duru should not just be ignored. She must be investigated, exposed, and held accountable. This is a statement of fact. The world is changing fast, and if we do not wake up, we will be buried under the lies of those who use technological machines to commit crimes while pretending to be innocent. Any society that allows this nonsense to continue is preparing for a time when truth will be killed, and no one will even remember how it once sounded.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Public Speaker | Author | Political Analyst | Pan-African

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The oil industry in Nigeria has never truly been about oil. It has always been about influence, control, and who gets to wear the invisible crown. This latest executive order by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, promising tax incentives to oil companies who can prove cost efficiency is not just a policy, but a deliberate realignment of power in a country where petroleum is the god and the government is the priest. It appears noble on the surface, but it is soaked in political ambition and dressed transactions. We are told it is about cost saving, but every Nigerian with a memory knows that nothing in the oil industry is ever as simple as it is announced.

Before Tinubu’s directive, Nigeria’s upstream petroleum operations were clogged with inefficiency, inflated contracts, and untraceable invoices. Oil companies, both local cartels and foreign multinationals, routinely padded their cost books and wrote their own rules. The system encouraged dishonesty, yet protected those who had friends in power. This new reform claims to offer relief only to those who prove they are cutting operational costs. On paper, that sounds like progress; but the question is… Who verifies the costs? Who authenticates the claims? Which office stands in judgment? It is not the numbers that matter. It is who interprets them, and in Nigeria, interpretation is always coloured by politics.

What Tinubu has done, in essence, is shift the balance of economic loyalty. By creating a reward system tied not to production output but to efficiency certifications, he has constructed a new patronage system in the most lucrative corner of our economy. The oil sector will no longer just answer to the NNPC or the market. It will answer to whoever controls the cost efficiency stamp of approval. That approval can make or break profit margins. It can make or break companies. That is where the real power now sits, and that power, for the moment, sits calmly within the presidency.

This is not economic liberalisation, but political monetisation. If the presidency begins to play the role of validator for oil companies’ tax discounts, then expect a future where political alignment becomes the currency for doing business. Expect a future where oil CEOs must please two masters: one in the boardroom, the other in the corridors of power. This model is not unfamiliar. Nigeria has seen it before; in military rule, in subsidy scams, and in the golden age of oil block auctions to political godfathers. The only thing that has changed is the dressing, but the script remains the same.

The bigger tragedy is that this entire operation is happening in the background of a crumbling economy. The naira is fighting for air, inflation is brutalising the common man, and debt is eating into our future like acid on metal. In such a dire moment, one would expect an oil reform to focus on national ownership, transparency, and energy independence. Instead, we are watching another executive document signed into law without public debate, without civil society input, and without any safeguard against manipulation. It is the same oil story we have lived through for 60 years where only the actors have changed.

Who benefits most from this? Certainly not the Niger Delta communities who still live with oil spills in their drinking water and broken promises from Abuja. It is not the Nigerian youth, whose future is still mortgaged to oil backed debts. It’s not even the average worker, whose purchasing power is withering like yam in harmattan. The winners, as always, will be those who sit close to power and talk the right things at the right time. They will write the efficiency reports, sign the endorsements, and pocket the tax cuts, while the rest of the country will clap in ignorance or cry in frustration.

We must ask: if cost efficiency was the problem all along, why was it only addressed now? Why wait until the presidential seat was secure before introducing a policy that empowers the presidency over the oil sector? Why is this reform not accompanied by legislation, public oversight, or clear punishment for companies who falsify cost reports?

What happens when a company bribes its way into an “efficient” rating? Who pays for that corruption? We know the answer already. Nigeria always pays. Its people always pay.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Political Analyst | Writer | Public Speaker | Pan-African

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There is a time in every kingdom when the court jester forgets the crown is borrowed. He dances too wildly, flings careless jokes, and soon begins to believe he is the king. Such is the unfolding comic tragedy starring Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, a man who, not long ago, styled himself as the vocal sword of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, waving wild accusations like carnival ribbons. He sang louder than the drums, hurled slurs like stones, and played the village talking parrot with a passion so reckless it drew blow from even the elders in the market square. Now, the once feared voice appears to have kicked off itself into the courtroom. Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, once known for taunting Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan with careless pride, his laughter has now met the humbling sound of not just a court summon, but a legal drama thick enough to sober a drunken lion.

On Wednesday, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, presided and set the scene for what may become a landmark moment in Nigeria’s evolving political scene. Justice Angela Otaluk granted an order for substituted service on the same Senator Nwaebonyi in a defamation suit instituted by the ever defiant Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. The allegation is not some routine political insult, but a hefty N5 billion claim over wild, unguarded remarks that the Senator from Ebonyi North claimed Natasha mothered six children for six different men. A cocktail of tasteless gossip now bearing the aroma of legal consequence. In simple terms, the court has lost patience with formalities. The man has been too elusive, so the legal system now intends to place the lawsuit where he cannot dodge

The court’s ruling permits service of court documents either via a national newspaper or through the Clerk of the National Assembly; a move often reserved for those who prove elusive or too politically lubricated to be cornered through conventional means. It is, in the eyes of many, the judicial equivalent of knocking at the palace gate when the masquerade refuses to remove its mask. Whether the said Senator receives it by courier, carrier pigeon, or by murmurs from the Senate Clerk’s office is no longer the concern of the bench. What matters now is that his name, long printed on the scrolls of political mischief, must now face the seriousness of legal redress. For a man who once chased cameras, he now runs from envelopes.

However, it does not end there. Senator Natasha, presently under a questionable six-month suspension, has refused to keep silent. She has lodged a petition with the Inspector-General of Police, naming not only the Ebonyi Senator, but also dragging in the Senate President himself and a certain Sandra Duru, a woman who reportedly decorates her name as “Prof. Mgbeke”. The petition was duly copied to the Attorney General of the Federation, an uncommon move that signposts a case now dancing dangerously close to the seat of power. This is no jokes but about whether power can continue to bully truth and expect silence in return. For once, the senator from Kogi seems ready to pull all the masks off.

In a society where lies often travel faster than court processes, it remains to be seen whether this drama will teach others to measure their tongue before their ambition. The Akpabio inner circle, which once considered Nwaebonyi their favourite parrot, may soon find that parrots can indeed be summoned to court, and made to repeat under oath. The courtroom is no beer parlour. It remembers things the Senate floor conveniently forgets. With a hearing fixed for June 25th, the gavel may yet teach the difference between political drama and reputational homicide.

The streets of social media may roar with laughter, but inside the courtroom, it is silence that speaks. It is no longer about insults or who has the better insult factory. It is about evidence, facts and whether a man’s mouth can cost more than his mansion. Political noise does not work in legal chambers. No one throws chairs or punches there. No one orders ‘point of order’. It is either you defend your words or prepare to pay dearly for them.

So, the show begins, but this time, it is a court of record. If Nwaebonyi believed that verbal thuggery could always be masked as political loyalty, he may soon realise that in the eyes of the law, even jesters are expected to behave. The Akpabio franchise may have many actors, but very few are willing to face a N5 billion consequence. Nwaebonyi, the same man who once sounded like a broken alarm clock every time Natasha’s name appeared, must now stand before the very system he once mocked. Perhaps, in the fullness of time, the parrot will learn that mimicking the king does not come without cost.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Author | Public Speaker | Advocate | Pan-African

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They say when a man drinks power like palmwine and forgets the bitter taste of consequences, he begins to walk as though the sun will never set on his back. That is the story of Godswill Akpabio. A man whose name once rang through the streets of Akwa Ibom as a so called “uncommon transformer” now sits as the Senate President of Nigeria, presiding over laws in a country that has never fully interrogated the darkness that drove his rise to power. This piece is not written out of malice, but born out of obligation; a civic duty to document the visible stains of history which many have tried to sweep under official carpets. There comes a time when silence becomes a crime, and history demands that a man must either stand with the truth or be buried beneath it. This is one of those moments.

In a country where public memory is short and political accountability is even shorter, it is both haunting and ironic that the upper chamber of Nigeria’s legislature is today led by a man whose tenure as governor was marked by some of the darkest headlines ever printed in Nigerian political history. Long before the air conditioned corridors of the National Assembly swallowed him, Senator Godswill Akpabio stood accused of many things, coming not from online bloggers or rumour mongers, but by respected newspapers who had the courage to call his reign what it truly was; “A Reign Of Terror,” that gripped Akwa Ibom State in fear, blood, and silence. Today, those headlines have returned from the grave, not as noise, but as evidence.

In 2011, the call to the United States to sanction Akpabio was not made by a political greenhorn, but a cry for international accountability. Public petitions poured in, letters were written, and protesters demanded action. Reports alleged that journalists were harassed, women and children fled towns, and rival politicians were chased into exile or buried in silence. These weren’t fairy tales, but were lived realities, printed and documented for the world to see. It was a desperate cry from a wounded citizenry and a media gasping for air under pressure, calling for international intervention in a land that had become too dangerous for the truth to walk freely. Now, the question must be asked: what kind of man presides over the Senate of a country still choking on the fumes of impunity?

Newspaper reports at the time documented a Nigeria that had become all too familiar with the language of impunity. A front page scream from one publication boldly demanded: “Political Killings: Sanction Akpabio Now”. The administration of Akpabio was not simply accused of corruption or incompetence. It stood neck deep in allegations of orchestrated assassinations, systemic fear mongering, and a deliberate war against the democratic spirit. The mention of “killer squads on rampage” was not the script of a film, but a front page truth that government silence could not erase. There are many who would like us to forget, saying Akpabio has been “cleared.” But I ask: cleared by whom? By the same institutions that bow when power barks?

The EFCC’s documented seizure of properties linked to Akpabio, following a fraud probe worth over ₦100 billion, did not emerge from political bitterness, as some have conveniently alleged. It came from sworn affidavits, paper trails, and court authorised action. Newspaper articles from the period refer to fraud scandals involving N108 billion as enough money to build hospitals in every local government of the country. While the Senate today wears the face of legislative sanctity, its presiding officer sits atop a mountain of unresolved questions that no amount of power laundering can hide. The media back then was not silent. Headlines such as “Gov. Akpabio is a thief” may appear unrefined in tone, but behind those words lay the anguish of a people tired of watching public wealth turned into private empire. That he could climb from such allegations into the role of Senate President should concern not just Nigerians, but the conscience of our democracy.

It must be stated without ambiguity that governance under Akpabio, as documented, was not just about missing funds or inflated contracts. It bore the stench of blood. “The Politics of Blood in Akwa Ibom” was the exact phrase used by reputable journalists in reference to the alleged killing of political opponents and dissenters during his administration. This was not a lone article. There were patterns, there were names, there were faces, there were funerals, and there were families who never got justice. As a people, we must ask ourselves: what kind of democracy grants leadership to those whose tenure in power was defined by allegations of conspiracy in the death of fellow politicians, like the widely referenced “Akpabio-Udom plot against Awak’s death”? These are not idle allegations; they were published, read, archived, and yet conveniently forgotten.

The role of the media during those turbulent years was one of bravery and sacrifice. In the face of threats, brown envelopes, and politically influenced editors, a few journalists stood tall. Newspapers such as Victoria Times and Concord did not only report, they exposed a lot. It was through them that the military panel’s indictment of Akpabio over electoral violence became public knowledge. It was they who asked uncomfortable questions about why women and youth were fleeing their communities in fear. It was they who highlighted the systemic violence that allegedly accompanied local government elections, tenure elongation, and the restructuring of council appointments to benefit political loyalists. Today, many of those stories are treated like ancient tales, yet they are the blueprint of our present decay.

When Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan recently raised an alarm about threats to her life within the National Assembly; a claim that saw her charged under the name FGN vs. Senator, in a manner widely condemned by ECOWAS lawmakers, the country was given a rare glimpse into the continuity of institutional bullying. It became clear that the “Reign Of Terror” has not been broken, but has simply changed its address. From Uyo to Abuja. From State to Senate. The silence of our institutions in the face of such bold claims, and the swiftness of punishment against the whistleblower, reminds us of a dangerous pattern, where power is used not to serve, but to suppress.

Let it be said for the record that this is not an attack piece, but a record of what was already in the public domain, duly published, archived, and yet unanswered. Nigerians must not forget. For when we forget, we give power to impunity. We invite fear to rule. We make room for the ghosts of the past to become the leaders of the present. If the Nigerian Senate truly represents the people, then its leadership must be beyond reproach. It cannot be the final promotion ground for unresolved legacies of blood, corruption, and dictatorship in disguise. The shadows of Akwa Ibom still walk the halls of Abuja, and until they are exorcised by truth, justice, and public demand, Nigeria shall continue to suffer the burden of a haunted democracy.

By: ILUO DePOET

Lawyer | Writer | Public Speaker | Political Analyst | Advocate | Pan-African Voice

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