Ekaette Akpabio, wife of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has dismissed allegations of sexual harassment leveled against her husband by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Speaking in an interview on Friday, Ekaette described Akpabio as a “disciplined and responsible” man who will not disrespect her and their children.
Earlier, Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that her ordeal in the senate started because he rejected Akpabio’s sexual advances.
The Kogi senator alleged that Akpabio made passes at her when she and her husband visited his home in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, for the senate president’s birthday celebration in December 2023.
Countering the allegations, Ekaette said Akpoti-Uduaghan’s husband, who is their family friend, could have heard the purported conversation between Akpabio and the Kogi senator.
Akpabio’s wife added that the senate president’s Akwa Ibom residences are never empty and that security operatives are always with his husband.
Ekaette said Akpabio worked with many women when he was Akwa Ibom governor and there was no allegation of sexual harassment.
“There is no way that a man as disciplined as that can think of taking a woman to his home. He has a lot of respect for me and the children,” Ekaette said.
“In Akwa Ibom, when he was a governor, a lot of women were involved in governance and none of them ever said something like this. The senate president is a very responsible and disciplined man.”
Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan have been making the headlines following a heated argument at the senate over a change in seating arrangements on February 20.
Ireti Kingibe, senator representing the federal capital territory (FCT), says Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Kogi central lawmaker, has enjoyed more privileges than other female senators in the national assembly.
Speaking on Friday, in an interview on Arise TV. Kingibe faulted Akpoti-Uduaghan for not following senate rules, adding that she was not the only lawmaker whose seat was moved.
“Silence is golden, especially when one of us is not following the rules. And as women, we did not want to come out publicly to say anything negative about her; and we were hoping all of this will blow over, as a lot of things do,” Kingibe said.
“The senate is not a place where we are supposed to fight over trivialities like seating arrangements.
“This is about the rules of the senate. So if I can point out that other women have been moved several times. On that day, I wasn’t there, but I gathered that several men were also moved.”
Kingibe said although the senate is “not gender friendly”, it has been improving.
“And the truth of the matter is, when we make a fuss and draw the attention of the senate president, he corrects it,” she said.
“Truly, the senate can do better than it’s doing, but there’s hardly anything that’s been done to us that’s not done to other men.
“The truth is, senator Natasha has gotten the most privileges among all four of us (female senators). The seat I sit on now has been moved four times.
“I want women to know we have to follow the rules of the institution we chose to enter, and that is mostly the point of this visit here.”
On the allegations of sexual harassment, Kingibe said she is not that close to Akpabio to discuss the subject.
“I collected some documents for senator Natasha, informed her and went to her house. She told me that she was supposed to discuss something with Akpabio but he said to meet him at a hotel,” Kingibe added.
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