Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said that suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegation that he asked a former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, to assassinate her was a false and inflammatory accusation aimed at inciting the public and damaging his reputation.

In a statement on Friday, Eseme Eyibo, media aide to Mr Akpabio, said Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s “recurring persecution narrative and evident lying complex should not be weaponised to malign individuals or destroy hard-earned reputations.”

The statement indicated, “The Office of the President of the Senate strongly condemns the recent baseless, false and inflammatory accusation made by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in which she falsely alleged that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was involved in a plot to assassinate her.

“This outrageous accusation is not only false but a complete fabrication and deeply irresponsible and dangerous attempt to provoke public unrest, attract media attention, and discredit the person and office of the President of the Senate for ulterior motives.”

The statement described Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan a liar who “had previously made an unsubstantiated accusation of sexual harassment against Senator Akpabio, a claim she seem to have abandoned without explanation. Having failed to gain traction with that narrative, she has now escalated her campaign of misinformation to a deadly and defamatory dimension.

It added, “This pattern of deliberate falsehoods and manipulative theatrics reveals a troubling willingness to exploit public sensitivities through recurring victimhood narratives. It is a matter of public record that she has previously made assassination allegations against former Governor Yaya Bello and others in 2019 and 2023, along with multiple unsubstantiated claims of sexual harassment against other dignitaries.”

On Tuesday, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan at a rally in her hometown said, “Akpabio told Yahaya Bello to kill me. Akpabio told him to make sure that killing me does not happen in Abuja. It should be done here. So it will seem as if the people killed me here. I didn’t make that public, but we did notify the police about it.”

In a follow-up interview on Wednesday, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan said she had evidence regarding her sexual allegation against Mr Akpabio and would release it at the right time.

Mr Akpabio and Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, one-time political allies, have been at loggerheads in recent months.

The Kogi Central lawmaker was suspended from the Senate on February 28, after her seat was changed on the Senate floor and she accused Mr Akpabio of sexual harassment and abuse of office.

The Senate suspended her for six months, withheld her salaries and security detail, on grounds that she was unruly during plenary. However, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan has maintained that her suspension was to silence her for accusing Mr Akpabio of sexual harassment.