Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Friday accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of making sexual advances towards her.
She claimed that most of the intimate phone calls from Akpabio occurred in the dead of night, and that she would often wake her husband and put the conversations on speakerphone.
Natasha alleged that her refusal to succumb to Akpabio’s sexual advances was the reason behind the hatred and hostility she faced.
The Kogi Central Senator made the accusations during an appearance on The Morning Show on the Arise News Channel in Abuja.
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She insisted that her rejection of Akpabio’s repeated sexual advances, both within and outside the country, was the cause of her victimisation in the Senate.
Regarding the seating arrangement issue, Akpoti-Uduaghan acknowledged that Order 10 of the Senate Rules states that a senator must speak from their seat. However, she noted that when it comes to privileges, senators are allowed to speak from anywhere.
When asked why the other three female senators had not spoken out about her ordeal, Natasha said their reasons were known only to them.
However, she mentioned that the Senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe, had called to condemn her for filing a defamatory lawsuit against the Senate President.
On the Senate President’s nightclub comments, Akpoti-Uduaghan stated that it was not a slip of the tongue, as the Senate President had allegedly once suggested to her that he could organise a party in the form of a nightclub where they could have fun.
She compared her situation with the Senate President to that of a young female student who rejects sexual advances from her lecturer, but who is determined to maintain her integrity despite any victimisation.
She also denied allegations of corruption contained in a petition by a northern youth group to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, Public Petitions, and Code of Conduct.
Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that the petition had been sponsored by those who wanted her to distribute funds meant for Committee work to them.
She further alleged that Senate leadership had once warned her to stop her frequent confrontations with the Senate President, suggesting that if Akpabio were to fall, she would fall with him.
She said, “It all started on the 18th of December 2023, which was the day before his birthday and mine. We are birthday mates. We were all in Akwa Ibom because he had a big celebration at the stadium.
“Myself, my husband, and a few of his close friends went to Akwa Ibom. Initially, we were at Ikot Ekpene, where his house is, and then we all moved to his house in Uyo. It was around 8pm, and he held my hand and said he wanted to show me around his house.
“My husband was walking behind us. Just the three of us. We walked from room to room. He showed me the beautiful interior.
“He realised he needed to keep his distance while still holding my hand. My husband was behind, still on his phone but watching us whenever he could, and then we reached a particular sitting room. He asked, ‘Do you like my house?’
“I replied, ‘Of course, sir. Every room is beautiful, with nice interior, and quality taste.’ He then said, ‘Now that you’re a senator, I’m going to make time for us to spend quality moments here. You will enjoy it.’
“At that point, I pulled away, and I thought, ‘I don’t really understand what that meant.’ But when I turned around, my husband was already near me, and the way he looked at me, then at him, I began to wonder if he had heard part of that suggestive statement.
“And then the Senate President too, I noticed, had the same thought—‘Did my husband hear the invitation or not?’
“So then the Senate President said, ‘Oh, by the way, let me show you my chapel.’ He has a chapel in his house as well.
“We went to the chapel in silence. Later that evening, before we left the Senate President’s house at around 11pm to head to the Four Points Hotel, my husband asked me, ‘Natasha, what did the Senate President say to you? What was he telling you?’
“I thought for a moment—should I tell him that he was talking about bringing me here at a special time for us to have a good time, or should I just leave it?
“I simply gave him some words to mask what had been said. Later, when we lay in bed, with my husband’s arms wrapped around me, he said, ‘My love, you know you can tell me anything. What did the Senate President say to you?’
“I was like, ‘Don’t you believe me?’ I said, ‘Nothing, nothing. Moreover, it’s my birthday in a few minutes. Let’s just be happy.’”
