Akpabio vs Natasha; Why we might not probe sexual allegations – Senate
Senate spokesman Adeyemi Adaramodu has disclosed that no formal petition has been presented to the Senate on the sexual harassment allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio by Senator Natasha Apoti-Uduaghan
Adaramodu while speaking to The Nation yesterday, explained that there is currently no official complaint before the Senate to trigger an inquiry into the allegations made by the Kogi Central senator.
The call for an investigation gained traction after the Pan-North socio-political group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), joined other commentators urging for a transparent probe into the matter.
Speaking on a national television program over the weekend, Senator Apoti-Uduaghan claimed that she had been subjected to victimisation by Senate President Akpabio after rejecting his sexual advances.
In response, Akpabio’s wife, Nnoma, vehemently denied the accusations and filed a N250 billion defamation lawsuit against Apoti-Uduaghan.
However, Adaramodu emphasized last night that, despite the allegations, neither Mrs. Apoti-Uduaghan nor anyone else has formally submitted a sexual harassment complaint to the Senate, leaving the matter outside the body’s jurisdiction for now.
He said: “There is no allegation before the Senate. There is none from anybody for that matter. So we don’t pick allegations on television screen or from social media.
“So, nobody has lodged any allegation with anybody or anyone in the Senate.
“So, the only issue that is on ground is the breach of the Standing Orders which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions.
“And I don’t think there’s any other petition or any other complaint before the head committee. So, you will not be… that means there is nothing to refer to the ethics committee again?
“Unless if anybody brings anything up. So it will be dealt with accordingly. So, for now there is none than the one that we have referred.
“So, we can be hearing so many things from outside, but within the Senate, no allegation against anybody, no complaints from anybody and no case has been presented to us.”
Also yesterday, Eseme Eyiboh, the Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, supported the Senate spokesman’s statement, emphasizing that the Senate cannot investigate allegations that are not officially brought before it.
Eyiboh said: “For example, she went to court. There is nowhere in her statement of claims that the issue of sexual harassment is mentioned.
“There is no way from what is in public domain now and there has never been any time she has brought this to the attention of the Senate on points of privilege that she has been sexually harassed.
“It’s only a visitor or a first-timer or a stranger who visits his or her guests that is introduced, is taken around the house or taken around the compound.
“But somebody who is a familiar person in that household may have been taken around the first time he or she came.
“It’s very strange and sad that we are hearing that Senator Natasha and the husband, their family is very close to the family of the Senator, Godswill Akpabio, the Senate president. They have been visiting each other. It’s not hidden.
“So, is it just in 2023 during Senator Akpabio’s birthday that they were conducted around; all along, the families were all bonding and getting on together, visiting each other. They didn’t know the house.
“That is one fact we must interrogate. Then, number two, the same way Senator Natasha is a very beautiful lady in creation.
“But I can also tell you that the substance in his allegations are not elegant and anybody who pays attention to it is embarking on the on a trip of fantasy.”
