Godswill Akpabio, one of Nigeria’s top lawmakers, has refuted claims of sexual harassment made against him by a fellow lawmaker.
Senate President Akpabio told the session on Wednesday that he had never harassed a woman and that his late mother had raised him very nicely.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed in an interview with Arise Television on Friday that Akpabio had inappropriately approached her when she visited his home in southern Akwa Ibom state on December 8, 2023.
She claimed that while her husband walked behind them, chatting on his phone, Akpabio had taken her by the hand, guided her around his home, and made sexual moves toward her.
She further claimed that Akpabio had implied that she needed to “take care of him” if she wanted her motions to be given favorable treatment in the Senate on another occasion.
According to the senator, he was acting like a professor at a university who continuously let his students down who had refused to have sex with him.
However, Akpabio refuted this.
“I never harassed any women at all. I have always respected ladies because my late single mother reared me well. He added, “I was even recognized as Nigeria’s most gender-friendly governor.”
In Nigeria, the topic has sparked intense discussion, with many people demanding an impartial probe.
Bukola Saraki, one of Akpabio’s predecessors as senate president, stated on social media that the concerns brought up were too important to be ignored.
Two sets of demonstrators, one supporting Akpabio and the other his colleague, gathered at the Abuja assembly site earlier on Wednesday and chanted, “Akpabio must go.”
During the plenary session on Wednesday, Senator Uduaghan formally petitioned for an inquiry into Akpabio’s actions.
In his capacity as president, Akpabio gave Uduaghan permission to move on and ordered that her petition be forwarded to the Senate committee on public petitions, ethics, and conduct.
Akpabio served as former President Muhammadu Buhari’s minister of Niger Delta affairs and governor of oil-rich Akwa Ibom state for eight years before to being elected president of the senate less than two years ago.
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