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 Facebook Live session on Tuesday morning, where she was seen confronting immigration officers at an airport over the alleged seizure.
“Have I committed any offence? Why are you withholding my passport?” she asked during the broadcast, describing the incident as another attempt to harass her.
Akpoti-Uduaghan said the encounter happened shortly after she marked her second year in office, explaining that she was taking a short break when the officials stopped her.
“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 claimed it was not the first time such an incident had occurred, alleging that a previous seizure was ordered by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
“The last time this happened, an officer told me Senator Akpabio instructed them to prevent me from travelling, saying I smear the country’s image during international interviews,” she said.
She insisted that the ongoing criminal cases against her had already been addressed, stating that President Bola Tinubu had directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to withdraw them, which she described as “politically motivated.”
‘No Right To Withhold Passport’
A visibly upset Akpoti-Uduaghan threatened legal action against the immigration service, maintaining that no agency had the right to deny her movement.
“You have no right to withhold my passport or stop me from leaving the country. I’ve attended all my court sessions; I’m not a flight risk,” she stated.
Moments later, one of the officers returned her passport, prompting the senator to remark, “If I hadn’t gone public, would you have given me my passport?”
During the livestream, some officers could be heard apologising and trying to calm her down.
Immigration Service Responds
When contacted, NIS spokesperson Akinsola Akinlabi denied the senator’s allegations, clarifying that her passport was never seized.
“The senator only went through routine immigration checks and was allowed to travel,” Akinlabi told Channels Television.
He explained that it was standard practice for officers to briefly take a traveller’s passport for verification before returning it.
“Perhaps while waiting for the checks to be completed, she assumed she was being stopped from travelling. She has since travelled,” he added.
Ongoing Legal Battles
The incident comes amid Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s ongoing legal issues. She is facing separate charges of alleged criminal defamation and cybercrime before the FCT High Court and the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In October, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation dismissed her claim that the charges constituted an abuse of court process, saying they were based on “comprehensive investigations
