Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, says she has repeatedly turned down approaches from figures in the Presidency and colleagues in the National Assembly urging her to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the disclosure during an interview on the Mic On podcast with Seun Okinbaloye, published on YouTube on Saturday.
Asked directly if the APC could become an option for her in the event of a deepening crisis within the PDP, she dismissed the suggestion.
“No, I wouldn’t. I was in APC briefly at the start of everything. Why should I go and join APC?” she said. “I don’t have to follow the bandwagon. I don’t have to succumb to any threats or fall for any cajolery.”
The senator said pressure to defect has been “many times” and from “high places,” including officials linked to the Presidency and fellow lawmakers in the Senate.
“I have been approached many times. I have been approached by people from the Presidency, from even my colleagues,” she noted. “Even as recently as yesterday, one joked about it: ‘We’re still expecting, we would love to have you.’ And I’m like, I love my space, I love my peace here. I’m okay with my party now.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan, a first-term lawmaker in the 10th National Assembly, won the Kogi Central senatorial seat on the PDP ticket after the election tribunal nullified the earlier declaration of APC candidate Abubakar Sadiku-Ohere.
On her 2027 political plans, she confirmed that internal conversations were ongoing within the PDP regarding a possible re-election bid, but stressed that no final decision had been taken.
Responding to speculation that former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello may contest the Kogi Central senatorial seat in 2027, she insisted she is not threatened by the prospect.
“If by any chance I make up my mind after due consultation with my family, constituents and political party, and I am on the ballot against former Governor Yahaya Bello in 2027, then I would say, bring it on,” she said, pointing out that she had already defeated a Bello-backed candidate in 2023.
While reaffirming her preference to remain in the PDP, Akpoti-Uduaghan hinted that a prolonged leadership crisis in the opposition party could force her to reassess her options — though not, she emphasized, in the direction of the APC.
