Natasha claims her biracial background is half Nigerian half Ukrainian
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“I want the people to know my issue is with the Senate President [Godswill Akpabio] – not the entire Senate, the Nigerian people, the institutions, or the Presidency” – Natasha
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Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has affirmed that her background of being born to a Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother makes it impossible for her to be tribal and laughable that Sandra Duru accused her of being against a Yoruba government.
Natasha, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District, spoke in an interview with Adeola Fayehun, a Nigerian journalist based in the United States, where she denied allegation of plotting to undermine Bola Tinubu’s “Yoruba-led” administration.
Duru, alias Professor Mgbeke, had claimed that Natasha confided in her to be working against Tinubu’s regime, which Natasha strongly denies, insisting she is not driven by tribal sentiments.
“People who know me know that I am not a tribalist. I respect and appreciate every tribe in Nigeria, every ethnicity,” Natasha said.
“I am half Nigerian and half Ukrainian – who am I to talk about tribe when I am actually one part of the other world? That is not my nature; that is not my language.
“If anybody said that, it’s probably her team, the people who have sponsored her. Her sponsors are the ones who have probably put those words to her because they knew that I had enjoyed a lot of support from Nigerians – not just in Kogi State, but across the country and even in the diaspora.”
She claimed that her close ties with Tinubu have not gone unnoticed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio whom she said confronted her husband about it.
“The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, also knows that I enjoyed a good relationship with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I have not said it in the open before, but I am saying it now, and that actually annoyed him because there was a time when the Senate President told my husband, ‘Are you aware that your wife goes to see the President?’ and my husband told him he was aware.”
Natasha already alleged that Akpabio sexually harassed her and her supporters alleged that Akabio paid Duru to rubbish her reputation to diminish the allegation against him.
She explained that “Whenever I have critical issues to raise – like before I brought up the issue of probing Ajaokuta – I did meet with Mr. President to make sure he knew the nature of it, and he was okay with it. For other matters too, I have met him in person.
“So, I do not have a hostile relationship with the President, even though I am in the opposition. I keep saying, the good people of Kogi Central voted me as a Senator to work, not to antagonise or create enmity.
“I want the people to know my issue is with the Senate President – not the entire Senate, the Nigerian people, the institutions, or the Presidency.”
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