A new twist has emerged in the long-running dispute between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. US-based activist Sandra Duru, popularly known as Prof Mgbeke, has made fresh allegations against Akpabio. In a nine-minute audio recording released on social media, Duru claims that Akpabio engaged her to campaign against Akpoti-Uduaghan. The recording has brought renewed attention to the political dispute involving the Senate President and the Kogi Central senator.
Duru's latest claim appears to contradict an allegation she made against Akpoti-Uduaghan in 2025. At the time, the activist accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of attempting to recruit her to make damaging allegations against Akpabio. Akpoti-Uduaghan denied the allegation and rejected Duru's account. The activist presented a different version of her relationship with Akpabio in the latest recording. She described the audio as an indication that more information would be released concerning her dealings with the Senate President and the controversy surrounding Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The audio recording includes portions of conversations involving a male voice identified as Akpabio's. The excerpts reportedly touched on political developments involving former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Senator Ned Nwoko. In one portion, the voice allegedly attributed to Akpabio discussed Okowa's movement to the All Progressives Congress. The speaker allegedly suggested that Okowa's decision was influenced by concerns over corruption cases rather than political sincerity. However, the recording has not been independently authenticated.
The identities of the voices, the circumstances under which the conversations were recorded, and the complete context of the exchanges remain unclear. The latest claims therefore remain allegations pending independent verification or a response from the individuals mentioned. Akpabio has not publicly responded to the fresh allegation as of the time of reporting. Efforts to obtain a reaction from his media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, were unsuccessful.
The Akpoti-Uduaghan camp has also declined to enter the latest controversy. Her media aide, Mike Idoko, said the senator's camp was not interested in commenting on the matter. The development comes more than a year after Duru became involved in the bitter dispute between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan. In May 2025, Duru accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of offering her N200 million to make allegations against Akpabio.
The dispute later moved beyond social media exchanges, with Akpoti-Uduaghan petitioning the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation over what she described as defamation, cyberstalking, threats, and a coordinated campaign against her. The controversy also resulted in legal action before the courts. In January 2026, a Federal Capital Territory High Court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Duru and Meta Platforms Inc. from further circulating materials alleged to be defamatory against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The case was filed under Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/229/2025, and Justice I. Mohammed held that the application raised "a serious question to be tried" and that urgent intervention was necessary pending the determination of the substantive case. The court restrained Duru from further publishing, posting, sharing, or promoting on Facebook or any other social media platform any material containing defamatory content against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Key points
- US-based activist Sandra Duru releases audio recording alleging Senate President Godswill Akpabio engaged her to campaign against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
- The allegation appears to contradict Duru's previous claim that Akpoti-Uduaghan attempted to recruit her to make damaging allegations against Akpabio.
- The authenticity of the recording and the claims made by Duru remain to be independently verified.
