Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has described the Senate as a “cult,” alleging that her colleagues fear speaking out against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In an interview with the BBC, on Tuesday, March 18, the Kogi Central senator revisited her sexual harassment allegations against Akpabio, which she recently took to the United Nations.
She claimed her six-month suspension was an attempt to silence her. “I am being victimised. My suspension is a means of silencing me,” she said.
Detailing her allegations, she recounted an incident at Akpabio’s country home. “He was taking me around his house. My husband was walking behind us. He held my hand. He then squeezed my hands in a very suggestive way.
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“We women, we know what it means when a man squeezes our hands in a suggestive way. And he went, ‘Now that you’re in the Senate, I’ll make an opportunity for us to come here and have a good moment,’ you know, along that line.”
She also recalled an exchange in the Senate. “There was a time when I rushed to work forgetting to wear my ring, there were about five senators there. He (Akpabio) said, ‘Oh Natasha, you are not wearing your ring, is this an invitation to treat?’ You know, statements like this.”
However, Senate Deputy Chief Whip Onyekachi Nwaebonyi dismissed her claims. “There was never a time Akpabio made sexual advances towards Akpoti-Uduaghan,” he said, adding that the Senate President had not made inappropriate comments towards her, either at his home or in the chamber.
He also rejected her claim that the Senate was trying to silence her. “Senator Natasha’s legislative activities show this claim is not true,” Nwaebonyi stated.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has been in the eye of the storm since her seat change controversy, as well as sexual harassment allegations she levelled against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
She was suspended by the Senate for six months, an action which was followed by her address to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) of the United Nations.