*See Senators Opeyemi Bamidele, Ireti Kingibe’s connection
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of sexual harassment.
Speaking on Arise TV programme ‘The Morning Show’ on Friday, the Kogi Senator said sexual advances from Nigeria’s Number Three citizen started on December 8, 2023 in Akwa Ibom State.
Showing screenshots of documentary evidences, she said she would never participate in any deals in the Upper Chamber to benefit herself.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan said her husband “who respects Senator Akpabio a lot” was there when the Senate President made love advances to her.
She disclosed that after a function in the state, they went to the Senate President’s house. “He held my hand and started showing me the living room and other parts of the house.
“He started asking me, do you like my house, do you like my living room? When we moved to another part of the house, he told me “I am going to create quality time for us to be together. I was shocked. My husband was behind us but was on the phone”.
He then told me “Let me show you my chapel”.
We later left for Four Points at Ikot-Ekpene.
“My husband suspected something was not right and asked me twice what Akpabio told me. I didn’t tell him anything. Then, he said I should not travel abroad alone, even on legislative matters.
“Also, I moved a motion on Ajaokuta Steel Company and Akpabio stepped it down. Senators told me to go meet him in his office.
“In his office, he told me ‘if you take care of me, you will enjoy a lot. I am the Presiding Officer in the National Assembly. I left the office immediately.
“My husband had to travel to London to talk to him. It was only when the Deputy Senate President presided at the plenary that they eventually took the motion.
“It is a case of a female student being failed every time because she refuses to sleep with the lecturer. That’s exactly what happened. He had told me we can have fun. That was the reference to a night club.
“There was a night the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, called me that with what was going on, if Akpabio goes down, I will also go down. I could hear Akpabio’s voice at the background and I quickly woke my husband to listen to our conversation. I shouted at him and cut the line.
“When he called back, it was the voice of the Senate President I heard. He said ‘Princess of the Senate’ (that’s how he calls me), since the incident happened, my wife has been crying. She could not sleep.
“Immediately I told him he was responsible for that. It was around the time of the #EndBadGovernance protest.
“He said the Dein of Agbor called him, that Nigerians don’t like him (Akpabio). That he should leave Abuja to avoid being attacked. My husband was listening to our conversation because I put my phone on speaker.
“He said he told the Dein that if anybody tried to attack him, as the Number 3 citizen, he would take the person down. He would deal with everybody”.
On the suit, she said Senator Ireti Kingibe called her not to institute it. “My husband was there when she called”.
