Following an allegation from Kogi Central Senator, Ms Natasha Akpoti-Uduagha, that Senate President Godswill Akpabio made sexual advances at her in the presence of her husband, Economy Post went back the memory lane to the 2020 sexual harassment quotes by the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ms Joy Nunieh, against Mr Akpabio.
The quotes, however, are not an indictment on Mr Akpabio but are targeted at refreshing the memories of Nigerians regarding an earlier sexual harassment allegation against the Senate president.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on July 13, 2020, following the NDDC probe by the National Assembly during which Mr Akpabio was the Minister of the Niger Delta, Managing Director of the NDDC, Ms Nunieh, said she slapped Mr Akpabio at his guest house in Abuja.
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Mr Akpabio had sacked Ms Nunieh as the NDDC managing director on the allegation of “insurbordination.”
“Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only Ogoni woman, the only Nigerian woman that has slapped him. I slapped him because of his plan B. Since he couldn’t get me to take that money, he thought that he could come up on me,” Ms Nunieh told Arise TV, as reported by Premium Times.
“He didn’t know that I’m a Port Harcourt girl. Port Harcourt girls are not moved by money…by somebody telling me that he will make me the substantive MD. Akpabio’s meetings with me were either at Apo or Meridien…Yes, I am accusing him of sexual harassment,” she said.
She claimed that during her brief tenure at the commission, Mr Akpabio repeatedly pressured her to take “an oath of secrecy” targeted at keeping her from exposing fraud at the commission. She, however, did not provide any evidence.
In his response, Mr Akpabio had said, “…No matter the allegation, I wish that she will go to the hospital, see a doctor, take some injections and relax. I’m not saying there is something wrong with her, I’m saying there is something wrong with her temperament.
“You don’t need to ask me, you can ask about four other husbands that she married…”
Natasha’s allegation
Similarly, Kogi Central Senator, Ms Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, had on January 28, 2025, accused Senate President Akpabio of sexual harassment, alleging that Mr Akpabio blocked her motions from being heard on the floor of the Senate because she rejected his sexual advances.
“My issue with Akpabio started on the 8th of December, 2023, when my husband and I attended a pre-birthday invitation extended by the Senate President at his residence in Uyo. We had earlier gone to his house at Ikot-Ekpene, and he held my hand and said he wanted to show me around his house. Just the three of us, my husband and him. I noticed he hastened his pace while still holding my hand, and he got to this particular sitting room.
“He asked ‘do you like my house?’ and I replied ‘of course yes,’ and he said, ‘now that you are a Senator, you are going to create time for us to spend quality time here and you will enjoy it.’
“Later, on the floor of the Senate, I attempted to raise a motion regarding corrupt practices at the Ajaokuta Steel Company. I listed this motion five times, and it was only on the sixth occasion that it appeared on the order paper. When I approached the Senate President to enquire why my motion had been repeatedly stepped down, he told me, ‘Natasha, I am 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 told him that I would pretend I didn’t hear that.”
She further alleged that her case could be likened to a student being punished by a lecturer for refusing to sleep with him, noting that some senators had warned her to adhere to the seat change because it was a trap.
“I was approached by a sergeant-at-arms in the Senate chamber who informed me that my seat had been changed by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. This was news to me because I had attended the last session and had not been informed of any changes. Before the Senate President could announce my suspension, I needed to invoke Order 10, which serves as an SOS for senators who feel their rights have been breached. The Senate President made a mistake by not allowing me to speak on that Order 10.” She did not provide any evidence.
Akpabio denies allegation
Mowever, Media Consultant to the Senate President, Mr Kenny Okulogbo, reacted to the allegation. describing it as “tissues of lies.”
Okulogbo said the Kogi lawmaker was angry because she was removed as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content.
“All that Senator Natasha said are all tissues of lies. She is just angry because she was removed as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content.”
