Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has accused officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) of preventing her from travelling abroad and unlawfully withholding her passport.
The lawmaker made the allegation during a live broadcast on her Facebook page on Tuesday morning, showing her confrontation with immigration officers at the airport.
“Have I committed any offence? Why are you withholding my passport?” she asked the officials during the livestream.
Akpoti-Uduaghan said the incident occurred shortly after celebrating her second year in office. “Having completed my second-year celebration, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport, and my passport has been withheld again,” she said.
The senator recalled a similar incident in which her passport was allegedly seized on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio. “The last time this happened, the officer said Senator Akpabio instructed them to prevent me from travelling, claiming I tarnish the country’s image through international interviews,” she alleged.
She, however, noted that President Bola Tinubu had previously directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to withdraw all politically motivated cases against her. “There is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the airport,” she added.
Visibly upset, the senator threatened legal action against the officials, insisting they had no authority to restrict her movement. “You have no right to withhold my passport or deny me exit from my country. I have committed no offence, and this must stop,” she said.
Moments later, one of the officers returned her passport as the senator questioned, “If I had not gone public, would you have given me my passport?”
When contacted, the Nigerian Immigration Service denied seizing her passport, stating that she only went through “routine immigration checks” before being cleared to travel.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s outburst comes amid her ongoing legal battles, including criminal defamation and cybercrime cases before courts in Abuja. The trials, which she describes as politically motivated, have been adjourned to November 24.
The Kogi senator recently returned to plenary after a six-month suspension by the Senate for alleged misconduct — a move widely criticised by the public. Her office was reopened in September, allowing her to resume full legislative duties.
