The name Natasha has different meanings in different languages. In Russia, the equivalent is Natalia or Natalya, which refers to someone born on Christmas Day. In Greek, the closest one could guess is Anastasia, which means resurrection. In Hindu, the closest is Nataraj, interpreted as ‘dancing incarnation of Shiva and Asha’, which means hope. The name Natasha is of Latin origin, derived from the name Natalia, which means “born on Christmas Day” or “birthday”. In Biblical context, therefore, this connection to the birth of Jesus Christ carries profound symbolism related to hope of resurrection, rebirth, and divine blessings.

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan hails from Okehi in Kogi State in Ebiraland. She is a mother of three, married to the Alema of Warri, High Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan, who is said to be her fourth husband. The husband is not to be confused with the former governor of Delta State who bears the same name; they are two different individuals. She was born into a Christian family, but later converted to Islam in 2019. She is a Nigerian barrister, social entrepreneur and politician. She is a graduate of Law from the University of Abuja and also holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration in Oil & Gas Management from University of Dundee, Scotland. Currently, Natasha represents Kogi Central Senatorial District in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly.

It has been postulated by some astrologers that persons born on Christmas Day or persons named Natasha exhibit certain peculiar kinds of behaviour which suggest that they are a special breed. We are told that girls named Natasha may have to face difficulties in life but they achieve success eventually. They are said to be bold and courageous and they never give up. They are sometimes perceived as mean, arrogant, and rebellious, but on the contrary, they are both beautiful and intelligent in an extraordinary manner; they are kind, loving, and amiable by nature. Astrologers might not be entirely wrong if they characterized the Natashas of this world as bold and courageous. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was indeed born a couple of days before Christmas, precisely on Sunday, December 9th, 1979, to Jimoh Abdul Akpoti, now of blessed memory. Her mother is Ukranian Ludmila Kravchenko, which apparently accounts for her fair, Caucasian skin. Without doubt, she is a beautiful woman.

True to her name, all her life, and in the course of her political career, Senator Natasha has seen ‘pepper’ and she too has also shown some persons ‘pepper’- if one could use that local parlance. One of Natasha’s early baptisms of fire in national politics occurred in March 2018 after she presented an investigative report to the National Assembly, which exposed corrupt activities at the Ajaokuta Steel Mill. The report detailed the colossal waste of government funds and embezzlement since the initial construction of the steel mill which has remained moribund despite multiple attempts to revive it. The report was opposed by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel and Natasha was accused of deliberately misinforming the House of Representatives. An association of small scale steel dealers also alleged that she was running a sponsored campaign to discredit the government. Following the allegations, a legal battle ensued, and a High Court sitting in Abuja ordered that she should be paid the sum of ten million naira in damages by the publishers of Authority Newspaper, Ifeanyi Uba and Williams Orji, for their libellous publication against her. This incident perhaps influenced her decision to run for a Senate seat the same year. In 2023, she contested for the senatorial seat under the PDP against APC’s Sadiku Abubakar Ohere. The result declared by INEC showed that she lost the election. Typical of her, she disputed the result and filed a petition at the election tribunal, which she won. As soon as INEC announced the controversial result, Natasha fired her usual shot: “I will say the entire election in Kogi Central is a sham; I find it quite barbaric and undemocratic… I will pretty much say 90 per cent of the polling units had no elections but surprisingly results came out from there.”

On September 6, 2023, she was declared winner by the election tribunal while her opponent’s victory was nullified. Her final victory at the Court of Appeal was seen as a big win not just for her political party, the PDP, but also for Nigerian women in politics, who recorded losses in the elections. Throughout this period, Kogi State led by then Governor Yahaya Bello of APC, a strong supporter of Natasha’s opponent, Sadiku Abubakar Ohere, was of the highest political temperature. At a point, she accused Bello of plotting to kill her. It was said that Natasha was a bone in the neck of Yahaya Bello. It does appear she has a certain penchant for ruffling feathers. As soon as it was announced that she was on her way to the Senate, it might have been clear to the Senators at the upper chamber that the ‘tormentor’ called Natasha was coming to torture them!

In what somehow turned out a twist of fate, she was sworn in by the Senate President, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, the same person against whom she has presently levelled accusation of sexual harassment. She has gone ahead to institute a N100 billion lawsuit against Akpabio for defamation. She alleged that Akpabio once told her: “Natasha, I am the Chief Presiding Officer of the Senate. You can enjoy a whole lot if you take care of me and make me happy.” How does a lady take care of a man and make the man happy? That is a question for the gods, perhaps. But the matter escalated when Senator Natasha protested the reassignment of her Senate seat. Upon arriving at the chamber, she found her nameplate removed and her seat reassigned, an action she protested. She stated that some Senators warned her that the seat reassignment was a trap set for her by some of her honourable colleagues. She also alleged that the Senate President was victimizing her because she rejected her sexual advances.

All over the world, records point to the fact that accusations of sexual harassment and politics are like Siamese twins. In August 2020, US House of Representative member, Madison Cawthorn, a Republican, was accused of sexual assault by several women. He was reported to have indulged in sex orgies and in conduct unbecoming of a congressman. In 2022, a sex tape of Cawthorn was circulated online showing him naked in bed with another man and thrusting his genitals in the man’s face. He admitted that he did it but said the video was made many years ago. In October 2020, one Cal Cunningham of North Carolina, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate, lost the election after information leaked that he had sent sexually explicit text messages to a married woman in California. In 2021, Rep. Tom Reed was accused of sexual harassment in a bar. He admitted and apologized, and announced his resignation on the floor of the House. In the British Parliament, as reported in New York Times in May 2022, a lawmaker claimed that a female colleague crossed and uncrossed her legs to distract the Prime Minister. The list of sex scandals is endless.

Whether Natasha’s allegation against Senator Akpabio is true or false is now left for the court to determine. But what is now undeniable is that Nigerians have never seen a Senator like Natasha, and one can hazard that Nigerians have not seen the last of her yet. She would definitely continue to stir the hornet’s nest as long as she remains in the tough terrain of Nigerian politics. Like Michael Jackson of blessed memory, Senator Natasha is always ‘starting something’.

*Anthony-Spinks id of the Delta State Public Procurement Commission. He writes from Asaba.