Withdraw Suit Against Akpabio, Ex-Senate Minority Leader Urges Natasha

Former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi, has appealed to Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, to withdraw her suit against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Speaking during a live television interview on Saturday, Senator Olujimi said she does not want women to “look emotionally unstable”.

On February 20, Senator Akpabio, the senate president, and Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan engaged in a heated debate during plenary over a change in seating arrangements.

On February 25, the senate referred Akpoti-Uduaghan to the committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions for disciplinary review.

However, the Kogi senator filed a N100 billion defamation suit against Senator Akpabio over an alleged defamatory statement reportedly made by the senate president’s legislative aide.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan later alleged that her trouble in the senate began after she rejected sexual advances from Senator Akpabio.

Reacting to the development, Senator Olujimi said a senator cannot speak outside the assigned seat according to the senate rule.

The former lawmaker said the request of the Kogi senator that her senate probe proceedings should be broadcast live was a “little overboard.”

She added that the clash between the senate president and Akpoti-Uduaghan should not have been escalated, noting that the change in seating arrangements is a normal phenomenon in the red chamber.

The former senate minority leader expressed support for the probe of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s “weighty” allegations against Senator Akpabio.

She said Senator Akpabio is someone who jokes a lot, adding that the senate president usually made fun of everything.

“I want to say that in the 8th and 9th senate, we never had anything like that (referring to the allegations), and Senator Akpabio was one of us.

“They treated us (female senators) with decorum. We did not have anything like that, and I have not heard anything of such from any other of the remaining senators.

“It is tough for me to be able to take that without proper investigation. There should be an investigation.

“He (Akpabio) jokes a lot. He is fond of making little fun out of everything. He loves to make everything light; when you do that, you become very vulnerable.

“I saw all that they (referring to male senators) went through as men when I was there. They were all victimised by people from outside. I had to rescue them all of the time.

“The court case, I want to appeal to her to take the case out of court. We don’t want women to look like they are emotionally unstable.

“We need to also be strong enough to face the men. Going to court against a presiding officer is not on. I know she is hurt, but she needs to handle it in a better way. I think that should get out of court as fast as possible”, Senator Olujimi said.