Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan have kept silent over a fresh allegation by US-based activist Sandra Duru, also known as Prof Mgbeke, that Akpabio engaged her to campaign against the Kogi Central senator.
Duru made the claim in a nine-minute audio recording released on social media on Friday and widely circulated the following day.
The latest account differs from Duru’s earlier allegation that Akpoti-Uduaghan had approached her to make accusations against Akpabio.
Presenting the recording as a preview of further disclosures, Duru said it would shed more light on her dealings with Akpabio and the controversy surrounding the Senate President and Akpoti-Uduaghan.
She also published portions of an audio conversation containing a male voice she identified as Akpabio’s.
The voice allegedly discussed political developments involving former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Senator Ned Nwoko.
In one segment, the voice attributed to Akpabio allegedly suggested that Okowa’s move to the All Progressives Congress was linked to concerns over corruption cases rather than political conviction.
The recording, however, has not been independently authenticated. THE STAR could not independently establish the identity of the voices, the circumstances in which the conversation was recorded or whether the excerpts represented the full context of the discussion.
Akpabio’s media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, could not be reached for comment. He did not answer calls or respond to messages sent to him seeking his reaction.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s media aide, Mike Idoko, also declined to comment on the new allegation.
“We have no comment on this issue, please,” Idoko said before ending the telephone conversation.
Duru’s latest disclosure revives a dispute that drew her into the public disagreement between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan last year.
In May 2025, Duru alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan offered her N200m to make false allegations against Akpabio.
The senator denied the claim and dismissed Duru’s allegations as untrue.
Akpoti-Uduaghan subsequently petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over allegations involving Akpabio and Duru, seeking an investigation into what her lawyers described as a coordinated campaign against her.
Duru’s latest recording now presents a different version of her relationship with Akpabio.
Neither Akpabio nor his office had, as of the time of filing this report, confirmed or denied the recording or the allegations contained in it.
The development also comes against the backdrop of a court order involving Duru and Akpoti-Uduaghan.
THE STAR reported on January 24, 2026, that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory restrained Duru and Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook’s parent company, from further circulating materials alleged to be defamatory against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Justice I. Mohammed issued the order in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/229/2025 following an application by Akpoti-Uduaghan for urgent protection against what she described as sustained attacks on her reputation online.
A Certified True Copy of the ruling sighted by THE STAR showed that the court found that the application raised “a serious question to be tried” and that intervention was necessary to prevent alleged irreparable damage to the claimant’s reputation pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The judge restrained Duru, whether acting personally or through her agents or associates, from publishing, posting, sharing, disseminating or promoting on Facebook or other social media platforms material containing defamatory, scandalous, inciting or injurious content against Akpoti-Uduaghan pending the hearing and determination of the suit.
The court also ordered Meta Platforms to take down or disable access to the publications, posts or broadcasts identified as offending and attributed to Duru, including those published under the name Prof Mgbeke.
With the latest audio yet to be independently authenticated and no substantive response from the parties named in the allegation, the claims contained in the recording remain unverified.
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