Immigration Seizes Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s Passport, Lawmaker Blames Akpabio

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP–Kogi Central) has accused Nigerian immigration officers of unlawfully seizing her international passport at an airport, preventing her from travelling abroad.

The incident occurred shortly after the lawmaker marked her second anniversary in the Senate, where she commissioned several constituency projects in Kogi Central.

In a live video shared on her social media accounts, Akpoti-Uduaghan confronted immigration officials over the alleged confiscation, claiming the action was politically motivated and directed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

“Hello, fellow Nigerians. I’m Senator Natasha. Having completed my second year in office, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport here, and my passport has been withheld again,” she said in the video.

She alleged that this was not the first time her travel documents had been seized without explanation or a court order restricting her movement.

“The last time this happened, the officer in charge told me that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he claimed that each time I go abroad, I ‘spoil the image of the country’ by granting interviews to international media,” Akpoti-Uduaghan said.

According to her, her passport was only returned during a previous incident after intervention by a “highly placed” individual.

“Godswill Akpabio has instructed the Controller General of Customs to withhold my passport. This is wrong,” she added.

The senator also claimed that President Bola Tinubu had directed the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to withdraw all pending federal cases against her, making the seizure unjustified.

Following her outcry, immigration officers later released her passport.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was previously embroiled in a political dispute with Senate President Akpabio in February over the reallocation of Senate seats, a clash that led to her six-month suspension from the upper chamber on March 6, 2025. She was reinstated on September 24, 2025.

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