Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central in the National Assembly, has claimed her troubles in the Senate started after she rejected Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s sexual advances.
Speaking during an interview with Arise TV on Friday, Akpoti-Uduaghan compared her experience to that of a student being unfairly punished by a lecturer for refusing to give in to inappropriate demands.
“My case is a case of a student being punished by a lecturer for refusing to sleep with him,” she said.
The senator also addressed the controversy surrounding her sitting arrangement in the chamber. She acknowledged that Order 10 of the Senate Rules states that senators must speak from their assigned seats. However, she argued that when it comes to issues of privilege, lawmakers are allowed to speak from anywhere in the chamber.
On why other female senators have not publicly supported her, Akpoti-Uduaghan suggested they had their own reasons for staying silent.
However, she revealed that Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory, had privately called her—not to offer support, but to criticize her for filing a defamation lawsuit against Akpabio.
The Kogi senator also responded to Akpabio’s previous nightclub comments, in which he had jokingly referred to the Senate as a nightclub.
She dismissed claims that it was a slip of the tongue, alleging instead that the Senate President had once personally suggested organizing a private party in a nightclub setting for them to “have fun.”
Furthermore, Akpoti-Uduaghan denied allegations of corruption raised in a petition by a northern youth group, which was submitted to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, Public Petitions, and Code of Conduct.
She alleged that the petition was orchestrated by individuals who wanted her to divert committee funds for their benefit.
She said, “It all started on the 18th of December 2023, which was a day before his birthday and my birthday, we are birthday mates. We were all in Akwa Ibom because he had a big fanfare in the stadium.
“Myself, my husband and a few of his close friends, we went to Akwa Ibom and at first we were at Ikot Ekpene, where his house is then we all moved to his house in Uyo. It was about 8pm and he held my hand and said he wanted to show me around his house.
“My husband was walking behind us. Just three of us. We were walking around from room to room. He showed me the beautiful interior.
“He noticed that he has to be spaced while still holding my hand. My husband was behind still on his phone, but he was watching up whenever he could and then he got to this particular sitting room and he said, do you like my house?
“I said, of course, sir. Every room, beautiful, nice interior, quality taste. He said, now that you’re a senator, I’m going to create time for us to come spend quality moments here. You will enjoy it.
“At that point, I just pulled away and I was like, ‘I don’t really understand what exactly that meant.’ But then my husband when I turned around was already near me, and the way my husband looked at me and looked at him, I was beginning to wonder, did he hear part of that inciting statements or not?
“And then the Senate President too, I saw that he also had that thought like, did my husband hear the invitation to treat or not?
“So then the Senate President now said, oh, by the way, let me show you my chapel. He has a chapel in his house as well.
“So to the chapel. I know we walked in silence and all. So that evening before we left the Senate President’s house at about 11 midnight to the Four Point Hotel, my husband asked me, Natasha, what did the Senate President tell you. What was he telling you?
“I thought, should I tell him that he was speaking about bringing me in here at a special time for us to have a good time? Or should I just kill it there?
“I just gave him some words to mask what was said. After when we laid in bed to my right and my husband wrapped his hands around me and he said, my love you know you can tell me anything.
“What did the Senate President tell you? Again I was like don’t you believe me?
“I said nothing, nothing. Moreover it’s my birthday in a few minutes, let’s just be happy.”
The senator claimed that she had been warned by the Senate leadership to stop openly challenging Akpabio, as any scandal that brought him down could also politically ruin her.
Credit: Politics Nigeria
