- The Ebonyi lawmaker said the allegations against Akpabio are personal, unverified, and only surfaced when Akpoti-Uduaghan faced disciplinary action.
- He also claimed that Akpoti-Uduaghan has previously made “reckless and false allegations” against Reno Omokri, Dino Melaye, and Yahaya Bello.
The Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Onyekachi Nwebonyi, has rejected the sexual misconduct claims made against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, labelling them as “politically driven.”
In a statement on Sunday, Nwebonyi asserted that the allegations were “baseless and deliberately timed to distract” from the ongoing disciplinary process against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
He also criticised former Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki for equating his past legal issue with the allegations against Akpabio, emphasising that the two cases are unrelated.
“Saraki’s case was about official duties as Senate President—an accusation concerning the importation of an official vehicle. It was a procedural issue that was swiftly resolved through the Senate Ethics Committee.
“In contrast, the allegations against Akpabio are personal, unverified, and only emerged when the accuser faced disciplinary action,” Nwebonyi stated.
Nwebonyi further claimed that Akpoti-Uduaghan has a track record of making “reckless and false allegations” against prominent figures, such as Reno Omokri, Dino Melaye, and Yahaya Bello.
“If she truly believed she was being victimised because of an alleged sexual harassment incident, the proper forum to raise such a grievance would have been the Senate itself, not a television interview. The Senate is moved by reason and laws, not sentiments and drama,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Whip also highlighted that Akpoti-Uduaghan was appointed as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content in November 2023, before the alleged incident in Ikot Ekpene.
“If she had truly been a victim, why would the Senate leadership, under the same Akpabio, assign her such a critical leadership role?” he asked.
Nwebonyi maintained that the Senate must not allow itself to be swayed by unfounded allegations, urging Akpoti-Uduaghan to seek redress through the appropriate legal channels instead of turning the Senate into a “stage for diversionary theatrics.”
“The correct course of action is clear: she should first answer to the Senate Ethics Committee for her misconduct. If she believes she has a valid sexual harassment claim, she should file a case in the appropriate legal forum, not use the Senate and the media as a shield against accountability,” he said.
He cautioned that giving legitimacy to such claims without evidence could create a dangerous precedent, allowing anyone to make baseless accusations to disrupt Senate proceedings.
“The Senate and Nigerians should not fall for this diversionary tactic. The Senate must stay focused, maintain order, and refuse to be blackmailed into legitimizing what is clearly an opportunistic falsehood,” Nwebonyi concluded.
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