Senator Natasha Akpoti of Kogi Central has alleged that she is being victimized and denied certain privileges due to her refusal to engage in an inappropriate relationship with Senate President Godswill Akpabio. She made these claims while appearing on Arise Television’s Morning Show, where she detailed the alleged advances made by Akpabio.
Akpoti specifically accused the Senate President of blocking her motion because she rejected his advances. She also mentioned a recent dispute between them over seating arrangements in the Senate chamber. While recounting her experiences, she expressed her frustration, stating:
**“The Senate President made a mistake by not allowing me to speak on that Order 10.
“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.”**
Akpoti claimed that this was just the latest incident in a series of humiliations and maltreatment she has endured in the Senate. She further stated:
**“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.’”**
She further revealed that after they left his house late that night, her husband asked what Akpabio had said, and she was unsure whether to tell him.
Akpoti also claimed that Akpabio obstructed her motion regarding anti-corruption investigations at Ajaokuta Steel Company. She recalled:
**“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.
“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.’”**
She stated that she ignored the remark but later told her husband to intervene.
Comparing her experience to a student being failed for rejecting a lecturer’s advances, she remarked:
“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 another incident, she dismissed Akpabio’s remark at a nightclub as intentional rather than a slip of the tongue, adding:
“He had told me that there are a number of ways we can have fun if we travel.”
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