Akuwudike's arrest came shortly after he gave a widely watched interview on YouTube to Adeola Fayehun. During this interview, he made serious allegations, claiming he was paid N2.5 million by Sandra Duru, also known as Prof Mgbeke, to produce defamatory content against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. He further alleged that Duru was acting under the direction and financial backing of Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. Akuwudike stated that he eventually withdrew from the assignment after realizing it was a coordinated smear campaign filled with falsehoods, saying, "Everything she said about Natasha was fabricated lies."
This situation unfolds against a backdrop of legal action initiated by the Nigerian government against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan herself. She is facing charges of criminal defamation for claiming that Senate President Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello conspired to assassinate her. These claims were made during a televised interview on Channels Television's Politics Today on April 3, 2025. The court documents in her case list Akpabio and Bello as nominal complainants and include them among six witnesses. Akuwudike's continued detention and silence add another layer of complexity to these already intertwined and serious allegations.
