Akpoti-Uduaghan Natasha Hadiza

Natasha Hadiza Akpoti (born 9 December 1979) is a Nigerian politician and lawyer who serves as a member of the 10th Nigeria National Assembly representing Kogi Central Senatorial District since 2023. A member of the People's Democratic Party, she is the first elected female senator in Kogi State. Born to a Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother, Akpoti was educated at the University of Abuja. Before joining politics and campaigning for senate during the 2019 Kogi State gubernatorial election under the Social Democratic Party, she founded the Builders Hub Impact Investment Program (BHIIP). Akpoti was awarded the African Women Leadership Award by Jewel Taylor, the former vice president of Liberia. Following her activism for the revival of the Ajaokuta Steel Mill, she received the presidential award from the Nigerian Society of Engineers in December 2017. She was elected a senator under the People's Democratic Party in 2023.

Natasha Hadiza Akpoti was born in Ilorin, Kwara state, on December 9, 1979. The second child of Jimoh Abdul Akpoti, a Nigerian politician from Kogi State, and Ludmila Kravchenk Rakitna, originally from Chernivtsi, Ukraine. Her parents first met in the Soviet Union, where Jimoh was a medical student at Bogomolets National Medical University. She grew up in Ihima, Okehi. Akpoti attended her primary education at Christ the King School, Okene, Kogi State, and a brief secondary education at Government Girls Unity Secondary School in Oboroke, Kogi. She continued her studies at Federal Government College, Idoani in Ondo state, where she graduated in 1997.

Akpoti and her family relocated to Abuja after her father's death on 3 November 1998. She later got admitted into the University of Abuja, where she obtained her bachelor's degree in law from 2000 to 2004. At 19, she got married and had a son, Daniel. After her graduation from the Nigerian Law School in Bwari, Abuja, Akpoti was called to the Nigerian Bar by the Nigerian Body of Benchers on 8 November 2005. She later studied at the University of Dundee for her Master of Laws degree, which she obtained in 2011, and an MBA in Oil and Gas Management in 2012.

Early career (2007–2018): Akpoti worked as a legal counsel at Brass LNG from 2007 to 2010. In 2015, she established Builders Hub Impact Investment Program and embarked on a journey to become a social entrepreneur and reformer. Akpoti applied for the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship program in Singapore, acquiring knowledge on innovative solutions for tackling societal issues. She came to prominence when she presented an investigative report to the National Assembly on 1 March 2018, exposing corruption at the Ajaokuta Steel Mill. The report faced opposition from the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, accusing her of misinformation. A legal hearing by the High Court ordered the Authority Newspaper and others to pay libelous damages to Akpoti.

Akpoti first contested as a Senator to represent Kogi Central senatorial district in the National Assembly under the PDP. She lost the election to Abubakar Sadiku Ohere, but the Court of Appeal declared her winner in the 2023 Kogi Central Senatorial election dispute. In February 2025, Akpoti alleged on Arise TV that Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, sexually harassed her on 8 December 2023. The allegations escalated after she confronted Akpabio regarding his removal of her nameplate, and Akpabio denied the claims. Akpoti’s petition was dismissed without investigation due to a technicality, and she was suspended from the Senate for six months for misconduct, including refusal to sit in her assigned seat and disruptive behavior.

Following her suspension, Akpoti presented her case in a United Nations forum during the Women in Parliament session in New York. Civil groups and individuals, including the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, condemned the suspension. On 4 July 2025, a court lifted her suspension but fined her for contempt, though she was still barred from entering the National Assembly. Despite this, Akpoti was awarded the 'Politician of the Year' in 2023 Leadership Excellence Awards and the 'This Day Senator of the Year' in 2025. On 5 March 2022, she married Emmanuel Uduaghan in Ihima, Kogi State, and has three children.

On 18 April 2025, Akpoti reported that armed men attacked her family home in Obeiba-Ihima, Kogi State. The assailants raided and vandalized the residence, which originally belonged to her grandfather. The attack occurred on 16 April and was repelled by security forces, preventing further damage or casualties.