Natasha Hadiza Akpoti was born on 9 December 1979, she is the second of four children and the only daughter of a Nigerian father and a Ukrainian mother.
Her mother, Ludmila Kravchenk, is a Ukrainian from Rakitna in the region of Chernivtsi. Her father, Dr. Jimoh Abdul Akpoti, is from Obeiba-Ihima, Kogi State. She spent her early years in Ihima, Okehi Local Government. She lost her father in 1998 and the family had to relocate.
She studied at the University of Abuja from 2000 to 2004 and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree.
She was called to the Nigerian bar in 2005 upon graduation from the Nigerian Law School in Abuja.
In 2011, she proceeded to the University of Dundee and graduated with a Master of Business Administration in Oil & Gas Management in 2012.
In 2018, she declared her intentions to run for the office of Senator representing Kogi Central in the Nigerian Senate under the umbrella of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). On 25 May 2022 Natasha won the PDP’s primaries for the 2023 Kogi Centre Senatorial Elections to face Abubakar Ohere who picked the APC ticket.
In February 2023, a few days to the senatorial elections, in a bid to forestall transportation of electoral materials to the district elections, it is alleged that the Yahaya Bello-led Kogi State government excavated portions of the road linking to her senatorial district, however the government stated that the excavations were done to prevent access by hoodlums who have made the route a thoroughfare for themselves.
She contested for the senatorial seat under the PDP with 51,763 votes against Sadiku-Ohere of the APC with 52,132 votes, and she lost to her opponent with a difference of 369 votes between them.
On September 6, 2023 she was declared winner by the election tribunal while her opponents victory was nullified. On October 31, 2023, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ruled that she was the legitimate winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial Election that was held in February 2023. In addition, her opponent’s petition was dismissed by the court due to its lacking in merit.
Source: Wikipedia
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