Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan have declined to comment on a fresh allegation by United States-based activist Sandra Duru, popularly known as Prof Mgbeke, that Akpabio engaged her to campaign against the Kogi Central senator.
Duru made the allegation in a purported nine-minute audio recording released on social media on Friday and widely circulated on Saturday.
Her latest account represents a reversal of an allegation she made in 2025, when she accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of attempting to recruit her to make allegations against Akpabio.
Duru described the latest recording as a preview of further disclosures about her relationship with Akpabio and the prolonged dispute involving the Senate President and Akpoti-Uduaghan.
She also released excerpts featuring a male voice which she identified as Akpabio’s. In one of the excerpts, the voice discusses political developments involving former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Senator Ned Nwoko.
The voice purportedly attributed to Akpabio allegedly discussed Okowa’s decision to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) and linked it to concerns over corruption cases.
However, the authenticity of the recording, the identities of the voices and the full context of the conversation have not been independently verified.
Efforts to obtain a response from Akpabio’s media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, were unsuccessful. He reportedly did not answer calls or respond to messages seeking clarification.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s camp also declined to comment. Her media aide, Mike Idoko, said the senator’s camp was not interested in responding to the latest claims.
“We have no comment on this issue, please,” Idoko said.
The latest development revives a dispute that dates back to 2025. In May that year, Duru alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan offered her N200 million to make false allegations against Akpabio. Akpoti-Uduaghan denied the allegation and described Duru’s claims as untrue.
The dispute subsequently resulted in legal and police proceedings involving the parties.
In January 2026, a Federal Capital Territory High Court granted an interlocutory injunction in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/229/2025, brought by Akpoti-Uduaghan against Duru and Meta Platforms. Reports of the order said Duru was restrained from further publishing material alleged to be defamatory against the senator, while Meta was directed to take down specified offending publications pending determination of the substantive case.
Duru subsequently disputed media reports about the scope of the order, maintaining that she had not been completely barred from speaking publicly.
Duru has now presented the new audio as evidence supporting a different account of her relationship with Akpabio.
Neither Akpabio nor his office had publicly confirmed or denied the authenticity or contents of the recording at the time of reporting.
How did this story make you feel?
Join the conversation
Share a thoughtful response. Submissions may be reviewed before appearing.
