Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, have declined to comment on fresh allegations by United States-based activist Sandra Duru, popularly known as Prof Mgbeke.
Duru alleged in a nine-minute audio recording circulated on social media that Akpabio engaged her to campaign against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The recording, released on Friday and widely circulated on Saturday, appears to contradict Duru’s earlier claim that Akpoti-Uduaghan had approached her to make allegations against the Senate President.
Duru described the latest recording as a preview of further disclosures about her alleged relationship with Akpabio and the dispute involving the two politicians.
She also released excerpts of an audio recording in which a male voice, which she identified as Akpabio’s, allegedly discussed political developments involving former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Senator Ned Nwoko.
In one of the excerpts, the voice allegedly attributed to Akpabio discussed Okowa’s defection to the All Progressives Congress, linking the move to concerns over corruption cases.
However, the authenticity of the recording, the identities of the voices and the full context of the conversation could not be independently verified as of the time of filing this report.
Efforts to obtain the reaction of Akpabio’s media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, were unsuccessful.
Eyiboh did not answer calls or respond to messages sent to him seeking clarification on the allegations.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s camp also declined to comment on the latest development.
Her media aide, Mike Idoko, when contacted, said the senator’s camp was not interested in the matter.
“We have no comment on this issue, please,” Idoko told our reporter before ending the call.
The latest allegations come more than a year after Duru became involved in the political dispute between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In May 2025, Duru had alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan offered her N200m to make false allegations against Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan denied the allegation and described Duru’s claims as untrue.
The controversy subsequently escalated, with Akpoti-Uduaghan petitioning the Inspector-General of Police over allegations involving Akpabio and Duru.
She called for an investigation into what her lawyers described as a coordinated campaign against her.
Duru has now presented the latest audio recording as evidence of 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 as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the dispute has also featured in court proceedings.
The PUNCH reported on January 24, 2026, that a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory restrained Duru and Meta Platforms Inc., the operator of Facebook, from further circulating materials alleged to be defamatory against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The order was issued by Justice I. Mohammed in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/229/2025 following an application by Akpoti-Uduaghan for judicial protection against what she described as sustained attacks on her reputation.
In the Certified True Copy of the ruling, the court held that the application raised “a serious question to be tried” and that intervention was necessary to prevent potential damage to the claimant’s reputation pending determination of the substantive suit.
The judge subsequently restrained Duru, her agents or privies from publishing, sharing, disseminating or promoting on Facebook or other social media platforms materials alleged to be defamatory, scandalous, inciting or injurious against Akpoti-Uduaghan pending determination of the suit.
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The court also directed Meta to take down or disable access to the publications identified as offending and allegedly made by Duru, including those published under the pseudonym Prof Mgbeke.
The latest allegations contained in the audio remain unverified, pending responses from the individuals involved and any independent examination of the recording.
