Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi
Central, has claimed that her challenges in the senate started when she turned
down Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s sexual advances.
Akpoti-Uduaghan voiced
this allegation while speaking in an interview with Arise TV on
Friday.
“The Senate President made a mistake by not allowing
me to speak on that Order 10,” Natasha said.
“The Senate President has the right to allocate seats,
and senators should adhere, but for a senator to invoke Order 10, it means
their privileges have been trampled upon, and that can be raised anywhere at
any time.
“So, once a senator shouts Order 10, even if they are
being dragged on the floor, they are supposed to be heard.
“Once I raised Order 10, the Senate President ought to
have allowed me to speak. He could have used his discretion to move that
complaint to the Ethics and Privileges Committee or overrule it, but he failed
to do that. Instead, he ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove me from the
chambers and prepare for my suspension.
“I did mention that in the Senate, I have been
dehumanized, maligned, and all that, and I believe that this situation was just
the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Many people do not know what I’m about to say, and
I’m going to speak my truth while the Senate President is allowed to counter
it.
“It all started on December 8, 2023, a day before my
birthday and his. We were all in Akwa Ibom, and he held my hand, saying he
wanted to show me around his house. My husband was walking behind us.
“I noticed that he hastened his pace while still
holding my hand, and then he got to a particular sitting room and said, ‘Do you
like my house?’ I said, ‘Of course, sir, every room is beautiful.’ He then
said, ‘Now that you are a senator, I’m going to create time for us to come and
spend quality moments here—you will enjoy it.’
“When I turned to look at my husband to see if he had
heard that or not, the Senate President also turned and said, ‘Let me show you
my chapel as well.’
“That evening, we left his house at about 11 PM, and
my husband asked what the Senate President told me. I wondered whether I should
tell him what the Senate President said about bringing me there to ‘have a good
time’ or if I should just let it go because I knew how much my husband adored
him.
“In February, I wanted to move a motion for the
investigation of anti-corruption practices at Ajaokuta Steel Company. I listed
that motion five times, but it was only on the sixth attempt that it was
approved. Many senators can testify to that. Each time the motion was listed,
he would say, ‘Senator Natasha, we can’t take this motion because the good of
the Senate does not accommodate it.’
“He kept doing that, so I went to his office and said,
‘You know how important the Ajaokuta Steel Company is to me and my people. I’ve
noticed that you have repeatedly stepped down this motion.’ He replied,
‘Natasha, I’m the Chief Presiding Officer of the Senate. You can enjoy a whole
lot if you take care of me and make me happy.’
“At that point, I said I would pretend I didn’t hear
that. He then said, ‘The ball is in your court.’ When I got home, I told my
husband to speak to the Senate President to allow my motion to go through.
“You know when a student keeps failing because they
refuse to sleep with a lecturer? That is exactly what I have been facing, in
simple terms.
“Regarding the nightclub incident, I believe that was
not a slip of the tongue. He had told me that there are a number of ways we can
have fun if we travel.”
On February 20, the lawmaker disrupted plenary by
rejecting her assigned seat, defying Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s order,
and repeatedly raising a point of order despite being overruled.
On Tuesday, the upper chamber referred her to the
committee on ethics, privileges, and public petitions for disciplinary review.
This is a developing story…
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