By our reporter
The quarrel inside the Senate Chambers between female Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) and Senate President Goodswill Akpabio, has extended to the latter’s household.
This is because wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Ekaette Unoma Akpabio, has taken sides with her husband over the sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by Sen. Natasha.
Recall that in the wake of the Kogi senator’s outburst on the Senate floor over changed seating arrangement as it affects her in which she accused Akpabio of discrimination, Sen. Natasha had today, February 28, accused him of making sexual advances towards her –an allegation he flatly denied.
Speaking on Arise TV, the beautiful senator had alleged: “I went to him in his office and I said, ‘Senate President, you know how important this Ajaokuta Steel Company is to me? You know how important it is to my people and to Nigerians. I’ve noticed that you have stepped down this motion’.
“As a matter of fact, a number of senators told me, ‘go and see him and plead with him so that he will take it’.
“I was like, ‘sir, please, why can’t you take this motion? It’s very important. It’s been listed’. Then, it was listed a third time and stepped down.
“He then said, ‘Natasha, I’m the chief presiding officer of the Senate. You can enjoy a whole lot if you take care of me’.
“At that point, I said, ‘sir, I’ll pretend that I didn’t hear this’. He said, ‘well, the ball is in your court’. I left his office.”
She claimed the incident was not the first time as another one allegedly happened when she and her husband visited Akpabio’s Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom home for an event on December 8, 2023. Apparently, the relationship between both families has been warm.
However, from within Akpabio’s household, his wife has jumped to the defence of the Senate President.
Speaking to journalists, Mrs. Akpabio said there has been cordial relationship between her family and Senator Natasha’s.
According to her, both families had a long-standing cordial relationship even before Senator Natasha’s marriage to her husband.
Dismissing the allegations as a figment of wild imaginations, Mrs Akpabio further described them as unfounded, explaining that she (Ekaette) was personally present at the Akpabio’s family residence on the alleged December 8, 2023 date.
Asserting that her husband is disciplined and a man that loves and respects his family, Mrs Akpabio pointed to his track record of supporting women’s inclusion in government even before he became Senate President.
Urging women to flee from peddling such allegedly false narratives, the Senate President’s wife vowed to go to court over Sen. Natasha’s allegations.
The matter is,however,not the first time that Akpabio has been embroiled in controversy over such matters.
Recall that in 2020, former acting Managing Director (MD) of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs Joy Nunieh, had accused Akpabio of sexual harassment. He was at the time Minister of Niger Delta.
Nunieh alleged that she was compelled to slap Akpabio as her response to his alleged inappropriate sexual moves towards her.
At the time, Akpabio promptly denied the allegation, waving it off as “false, malicious, and libelous.”
