Media activist, Maazi Obinna Oparaku Akuwudike, has debunked claims that the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and Womanifesto, received financially inducement to defend Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in the allegation of sexual misconduct levelled against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akuwudike’s defence of the women groups comes as the controversy of the allegation rages on.
247nextnews.com reports that self-acclaimed activist Sandra Duru, popularly known as “Professor Mgbeke,” had made the allegation during a Facebook livestream, which has since drawn widespread condemnation.
She claimed that Senator Natasha confessed there was no sexual harassment and further alleged that the senator boasted of paying Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and women lawyers to defend her—a narrative Obinna described as entirely false and malicious.
But, Akuwudike, while speaking on Adeola Fayehun’s programme on Monday, May 12, 2025, dismissed Duru’s assertions as fabrications designed to discredit Senator Natasha and the respected women’s organisations.
He added that these organisations have a long-standing record of advocating for women’s rights independently and without inducement.
“I was shocked when I heard Sandra Duru claim that Senator Natasha paid FIDA and Womanifesto to support her. That’s pure fiction. Dragging their names into this web of lies is an insult to their integrity and to the entire women’s movement in Nigeria,” he said.
Besides, Obinna further alleged that Duru paid him ₦2.5 million to produce damaging documentaries targeting Senator Natasha, a job he accepted in good faith until he watched Duru’s livestream and realised the extent of her manipulation.
He cited an audio clip she claimed proved ethnic bias by Natasha, which he said had no such content, even as he distanced himself from what he called a well-orchestrated smear campaign
According to him, “She twisted it to incite ethnic hatred. That was the turning point for me.
“FIDA and Womanifesto have nothing to do with Sandra Duru’s fabricated claims. Their reputations should not be dragged into a mess created by someone with a disturbing history of extortion and deceit,” he said.
