In an explosive interview, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has revealed the origin of her problem with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, following her recent outburst on the floor of the Senate, where she accused the Senate President of picking on her.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, while appearing on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Friday, alleged that her trouble with Akpabio started in December 2023 when the Senate President invited her to his private residence in Akwa Ibom State for his birthday celebration.
At his residence, the senator alleged that Akpabio made passes at her and asked her to spend “quality time with him” so she could enjoy some privileges as a first-time senator.
Akpoti-Uduaghan described her travails as “the situation in universities when a student is continuously being failed just because she has not slept the lecturer. That is what I have been facing in simple terms.”
Quoting the Kogi lawmaker, “It all started on 8th December, 2023, which was a day before his birthday and mine — 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.
“At first, we were in his house in Ikot-Ekpene. Then we all moved to his house in Uyo at about 8pm. He held my hands and he said he wanted to show me round his house. My husband was walking behind us, just the three of us.
“We were walking around from room to room. He showed me the beautiful interior.
“I noticed that he hastened his pace while still holding my hands and my husband was behind on his phone. But he was catching up wherever he could. He got to this particular sitting room and he said ‘do you like my house’. I said, of course sir.
“He said ‘now that you are a senator, I’m going to create time for us to come and spend quality moment here’. You will enjoy it. At that point, I just pulled away… that I don’t understand what he meant.”
She said that the seat change which sparked her outburst during the Senate plenary “was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Speaking further, Akpoti-Uduaghan recalled being warned by her colleagues to adhere to the seat change because it was a trap set for her.
“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 added.
Before her interview, Akpoti-Uduaghan sued Akpabio for N110.3bn for alleged defamation. She quoted the senate president as saying she believed being a lawmaker was only about “pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the chambers.”
Meanwhile, the senate president on Tuesday announced that the Kogi central senator would face disciplinary action over her outburst regarding her seat reallocation.
At the plenary on Tuesday, Akpabio described Akpoti-Uduaghan’s outburst as stemming from a lack of understanding of senate guidelines.
“I think part of the problem is when people come from court… court-declared senators; they missed the orientation,” the senate president said.
“The management of the national assembly is hereby ordered to organise periodic orientation, particularly for senators who are midstreamers, who came midstream and did not start when their colleagues started.
“I remember that this particular senator (Natasha), on the day she was sworn in, raised her hand to speak. I was scared, but I had to recognise her, because I was saying we just gave her the rule book.
“Part of what we give to you when you are sworn in is the standing order of the senate. I asked if she opened the rule book to know what to say, but she made a contribution on that day. I think two days later she brought a motion.
“There is nothing wrong in being vibrant, but there is a lot wrong when you don’t know anything about the procedure.”