Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan have remained silent over a fresh allegation made by United States-based activist Sandra Duru, popularly known as Prof Mgbeke, in the latest twist to their long-running dispute.
Duru alleged that Akpabio engaged her to campaign against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The allegation was contained in a nine-minute audio recording released on social media on Friday.
The recording circulated widely online on Saturday, bringing renewed attention to the political dispute involving the Senate President and the Kogi Central senator.
Duru’s latest claim is important because it appears to contradict an allegation she made against Akpoti-Uduaghan in 2025.
At the time, the activist accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of attempting to recruit her to make damaging allegations against Akpabio.
She also alleged that the senator offered her N200 million for the alleged assignment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan denied the allegation and rejected Duru’s account.
In the latest recording, however, Duru presented a different version of her relationship with Akpabio.
She described the audio as an indication that more information would be released concerning her dealings with the Senate President and the controversy surrounding Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The activist also released portions of conversations involving a male voice she identified as that of Akpabio.
The excerpts reportedly touched on political developments involving former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Senator Ned Nwoko.
In one of the portions, the voice allegedly attributed to Akpabio discussed Okowa’s movement to the All Progressives Congress.
The speaker allegedly suggested that Okowa’s decision was influenced by concerns over corruption cases rather than political sincerity.
However, the recording has not been independently authenticated.
The identities of the voices, the circumstances under which the conversations were recorded and the complete context of the exchanges remain unclear.
The latest claims therefore remain allegations pending independent verification or a response from the individuals mentioned.
Akpabio has not publicly responded to the fresh allegation as of the time of filing this report.
Efforts to obtain a reaction from his media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, were unsuccessful. Calls and messages seeking clarification reportedly received no response.
The Akpoti-Uduaghan camp has also declined to enter the latest controversy.
Her media aide, Mike Idoko, said the senator’s camp was not interested in commenting on the matter.
“We have no comment on this issue, please,” he told our reporter on the phone before ending the call.
The development comes more than a year after Duru became involved in the bitter dispute between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In May 2025, Duru accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of offering her N200 million to make allegations against Akpabio.
The activist also claimed that she had access to recorded conversations and other materials which she presented as evidence.
Akpoti-Uduaghan rejected the allegations.
She described Duru’s claims as untrue and accused the activist of working to advance a campaign against her.
At the time, the Kogi Central senator also alleged that the recordings being circulated had been manipulated.
The dispute later moved beyond social media exchanges.
Akpoti-Uduaghan petitioned the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation over what she described as defamation, cyberstalking, threats and a coordinated campaign against her. Her petition also named Akpabio and Duru.
Duru had earlier presented recordings as part of her case against Akpoti-Uduaghan, while the senator and her supporters disputed the authenticity and interpretation of materials released by the activist.
The controversy also resulted in legal action before the courts.
In January 2026, a Federal Capital Territory High Court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Duru and Meta Platforms Inc., the operator of Facebook, from further circulating materials alleged to be defamatory against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The case was filed under Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/229/2025.
Justice I. Mohammed held that the application raised “a serious question to be tried” and that urgent intervention was necessary pending the determination of the substantive case.
The court subsequently restrained Duru, “either by herself, her agents, privies, or howsoever called, from further publishing, posting, sharing, disseminating or promoting on Facebook or any other social media platform any material containing defamatory, scandalous, inciteful or injurious content against the Applicant pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
Meta was also directed to take down or disable access to the publications identified in the court proceedings.
Duru had earlier accused the Kogi Central senator of trying to use her against Akpabio.
She is now alleging that the Senate President himself engaged her to campaign against Akpoti-Uduaghan.