The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has described the withholding of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s international passport at the airport as a “normal vetting procedure.”
The senator had accused immigration authorities of unlawfully seizing her travel documents and alleged that the order came directly from Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that Akpabio instructed the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service “to seize my passport at the airport preventing me from travelling.”
In a video circulating online, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan confronted immigration officers, lamenting that she has “committed no offence” and insisting there is no court order restricting her travel.
She said, “Hello, fellow Nigerians, good morning. This is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. I have just completed the celebration of my second year in office.
I decided to take a week off. So I’m at the airport here and my passport has been withheld again. The same thing happened last time where my passport was seized.
“I have committed no offence and there is no order from the court to withhold my passport and deny me travelling. The last time this happened, the person officer in charge told us that the Senate President Godswill Akpabio instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he said each time I travel out of the country, I smear the country’s image by granting interviews out in international media. Please, can you tell them to release my passport and this embarrassment should stop.
“You have no right to withhold my passport. You have no right to deny me exit and entrance into my country. I have not committed any offence and this must stop.
“No, this must stop. As a matter of fact, I think I have to sue you for continuously embarrassing me. No, don’t tell me sorry.
“Can I please have my passport? You can’t keep doing this to me all the time. I’ve been standing here for the past 20 minutes. Why are you doing this? What have I committed? The last time it had to take someone influential to call you to release my passport. That was what allowed me to travel.
“Now again, you’re withholding my passport. Why are you making calls? Is Godswill Akpabio so important? Why is he overruling boundaries? Godswill Akpabio, the Senate president, has instructed the Comptroller General of Customs to deny me exit, to withhold my passport. This is wrong,” she said.
She further stated that earlier federal cases against her had been withdrawn on the president’s instruction after he acknowledged the cases were politically motivated, and thus, she argued, there was no legitimate reason for immigration to seize her passport this time.
“There was no other. Yes, I know I have two federal government cases against me, of which the president of Nigeria instructed the AGF to cancel the cases, to withdraw the cases.
“No, hold on, please. This president actually spoke with Godswill Akpabio to terminate all the cases against me because he admitted, he agreed that they were politically withholding cases.
“So there is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the international airport. There is no reason why. You have no right to do that, madam. You have no right. You are taking laws into your hands. There is no court order.
“I have not missed any of my court appearances. I have attended all my court sessions. I am not a flight risk. I am not a risk to my country. So why are you treating me like a criminal?
“Can I have my passport, please? Thank you very much. Sometimes I think you just have to be a rebel to get things right. Then you keep asking Nigerians to be good citizens. If I had not gone public, would you have given me my passport?” Akpoti-Uduaghan queried.
However, her passport was handed back to her by the immigration officers and she has since travelled.
When contacted for comment, A. S. Akinlabi, the spokesman of the Nigerian Immigration Service, told NEWSNGR that, “The issue is normal vetting procedures at the airport. She has been allowed to travel. I don’t know where it has become media scrutiny. We all go through this procedure.”
This is not the first time Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has publicly accused the Senate leadership and, specifically, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, of intimidation.
Earlier in 2025, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan made an allegation of sexual harassment against Akpabio, an accusation he has denied.
In March 2025, the Senate suspended her for six months, citing misconduct, including speaking without recognition, making abusive remarks, and not occupying her assigned seat.
In July 2025, a court ordered her suspension lifted. Recently, she sent a letter to Akpabio and fellow senators inviting them to the commissioning of her projects in Kogi as part of her “second year anniversary” in office.
Some saw it as an olive branch, but Natasha denied any reconciliatory intent, saying the invitation was merely procedural.
