Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi central), has disclosed that she successfully attended the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting in New York by registering online as a senator and securing her accreditation due to her past participation in IPU events.

Despite not being officially nominated by the Nigerian government, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s prior attendance at the 148th IPU General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, in March 2024, facilitated her access to the recent meeting, she revealed during a Premium Times interview Sunday.

Akpoti-Uduaghan clarified that she personally funded her trip to New York and traveled with a visa on her ordinary Nigerian passport, not an official passport.

She maintained that her suspension from the Senate does not remove her legitimacy as an elected senator, allowing her to attend the IPU meeting in her official capacity.

However, her attendance has sparked a government investigation, with Nigerian internal and external intelligence agencies probing how she gained access to the meeting without official nomination.

The investigation aims to determine who facilitated her trip and accreditation and whether her participation was orchestrated to embarrass Nigeria.

Akpoti-Uduaghan also alleged that plans are underway to arrest her upon her return to Nigeria, claiming that the Senate President sent staff to evacuate her from the United Nations premises after her speech.