Tag: Senator Natasha

  • Gunmen attack Senator Natasha’s family residence

    Gunmen attack Senator Natasha’s family residence

    Unknown gunmen on Tuesday stormed the family house of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan in Ihima, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

    Sources familiar with the incident said the attackers arrived around 1:00 am armed with cutlasses and guns, damaging parts of the building, smashing windows and causing panic in the area. At least three men were said to be involved in the attack.

    After Senator Natasha’s Chief Security Officer, Yakubu Ovanja, informed the appropriate security agencies, officers from the Okehi Police Division rushed to the scene.

    The reason behind the attack is still unknown, and Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has not released an official statement.

    The lawmaker, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District in the Senate, has been in the news lately following her sexual harassment allegation against the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.

    According to Zagazola Makama, police are still trying to figure out what motivated the attackers and are working to find those responsible.

    Although nobody was hurt and no suspect has been arrested yet, security officials are reported to have launched a preliminary investigation.

  • Breaking: ‘Cancel your homecoming’ — Police tell Senator Natasha

    Breaking: ‘Cancel your homecoming’ — Police tell Senator Natasha

    The police have asked Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan to cancel her planned Sallah rally in the Central Senatorial district of Kogi State.

    The State Commissioner of Police, Miller Dantawaye made this known on Tuesday in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP William Aya.

    According to the statement, the Kogi police boss said the rally is against the proclamation on ban on political gathering by the state government issued on Monday.

    The statement said, “Following the intelligence report on security threats in Kogi State and the subsequent ban on all forms of Rally and procession by the Kogi State Government, the Nigeria Police Force, Kogi State Police Command has called on the organisers of planned rally at Okene to cancel such event in the interest of the peace in Kogi State.

    “The call for cancellation becomes necessary, noting that intelligence reveals that some hoodlums plan to hijack the process and cause disturbance of peace in the State. The Command cannot afford to jeopardize the existing peace the State is currently enjoying.

    “In view of the security threat received on the planned rally, the Kogi State Police Command is therefore advising the organisers to cancel the event so as to avoid any breakdown of law and order in the State. As the Command will not hesitate to apply the full wrath of law on any one who causes disturbance of peace and order in the State.”

    Despite the Monday proclamation by the state government banning political gathering or rallies, Akpoti-Uduaghan has vowed to continue with her “homecoming”, adding that she’s only coming to the state to celebrate Eid Fitr with her constituents.

  • An Uncommon Letter to Senator Natasha, by Ugoji Egbujo

    An Uncommon Letter to Senator Natasha, by Ugoji Egbujo

    Their desperation is telling. A long queue of senators hanging around TV stations to defend a man against allegations leveled against him by a married female senator.   They said they were not hired. But even hired mouths would have been more circumspect.

    Natasha, if indeed the man sought to know you carnally, you must not relent. You are his friend’s wife. You must stand strong and resist every act of intimidation. Against a court order, they brought forward a senate hearing and suspended you. That haste is not pure. A senate flagrantly flouting a court injunction to effect without a fair hearing a sanction the courts have repeatedly deemed illegal. Good people smell a rat.

    At every turn, they do something laughable. Some market women are arranged to run around the streets in Uyo to vouch that their political deity, despite Joy Nunieh, was incapable of wanton randiness. But often, their actions are cringeworthy. The madam of the house, who should be withdrawn, praying and fasting, files a suit in court to seek redress. She believes that the allegations are false because her husband was well brought up as a child.

    Natasha
    Natasha

    And that good upbringing having been tested in Uyo while he was governor with many buxom women working with him without scandals, makes the recent allegations untenable. So madam feels directly and vicariously injured. Because the allegations may have impinged on her reputation as a dutiful wife infinitely willing and capable of keeping her man in all-around satiety. I must confess at some point in the drama, I had searched the dictionary in the hope of finding a word fittingly descriptive of a ridiculous situation where people attend to grave allegations of misconduct with light-hearted buffoonery.

    Senator Ogunlewe, on his part, agreed that the sanction was unjustified and illegal. But hinted that your problems are borne of your ravishing beauty. It’s possible. After all, the other women in the current senate have confessed that they had never been sexually harassed. And because they had not been harassed, they were probably willing to conclude that you were not harassed. Theirs seemed an envious conclusion.

    Madam Tinubu was a little evasive. In one breath she said the senate was a mature chamber. Perhaps it was a place where people didn’t come looking too pretty. Or perhaps a place where people swallowed sexual advances as good-hearted banter and looked away. During her time at the Senate, Dino Melaye had said he could impregnate her. The public rose to her defense against a bully. They almost exchanged blows. Yet while on your matter, she suggested that women in the senate should know how to ‘shut them down even before they start’. In other words, if the lecherous ones chose to start, it was your duty to stop them quietly, without making a fuss like an irreverent lass. That must be her conception of maturity. But she didn’t say if it was also your job to stop them from victimizing you for refusing to yield.

    Senator Olujimi was also on TV. Her disposition was matronly. She said Akpabio was fond of jokes. So he must not be judged by what he says. Perhaps the jokes could include, ‘If you like my house, we can sneak back here one of these days to have a good time ‘.   The kind of of lewd joke that would be all too benign amongst louts in a motor park. So perhaps you must have mistaken a joke for a sexual advance. She said while she was in the Senate, she saw first-hand the suffering of men. She looked pained as she spoke. So, I guess part of your brief as a woman in the senate is to give some succor to your male colleagues whose feeble hearts are saddled with the weight of the world and the turbulence of male hormones. One after the other, current and former senators queued up to trivialize the sexual misconduct allegations

    A certain senator wrote the public. He used to be a student union activist. Now he leads a rubber stamp senate. His concern was that the public was mistaken in thinking that you were punished for alleging sexual harassment. He said you were pushed for breaking Senate rules. The senate rule you broke to earn six months summary suspension was speaking out of turn, right? And when you told them that your reaction was a result of the frustration you felt from sexual harassment, they didn’t bother to listen. Anyway, you said he had warned you that his fate was, in a sense, tied to Akpabio’s.

    Some said you didn’t provide any evidence. They wanted the evidence but didn’t want to countenance an ethics committee investigation into the allegations. Even the sex-for-marks picture you painted for them didn’t make them sober. So I will paint another. If a female student deemed insolent towards her school principal raises an allegation of sexual harassment to explain her behaviour, how can she be punished before her allegations are investigated? To hurriedly suspend her before listening to her is to take sides with the principal.

    Every day, clownish protesters lay siege to the Senate. It’s become a circus. In a grand obfuscatory operation, protesters protesting against Natasha’s protest arrive in time to muddle the protest waters. The real protesters are denied a voice by the fake protesters. Madam has gone to court. When you eventually get there, assuming you want to file a sexual harassment case, you will meet her waiting. The strategy is crude and comical but effective in a banana republic where the public has a short attention span and fleeting memory.

    They are willing to repeat a hollow vote of confidence ritual every day to keep all senators reined in. They are also willing to perpetuate the absurdity of confirming your sanction every day in total disregard for law and morality. Soon, they might set up a condolence register and start receiving visitors. The loyalty being exhibited is almost cultish. But we all know Nigerian politicians. They are susceptible. They can easily opt to become shoeshiners for any wily fellow in supervisory authority who uses power, privileges, and cash deftly.

    Yet there is something they haven’t tried. Perhaps they will get to it. After all, this is the age of the Cybercrime Act. A law that has been abused by the powerful to throw outspoken people into prisons for months for saying what they didn’t like. Now that you have made the allegations loud outside the Senate, where no immunity covers you, you have to get ready.

    That brings me to the last point. I hope you have a joker. Not necessarily a video recording as demanded by those hired protesters and other jesters. But something that can make a bully step back. If you don’t you might eventually be crucified. However, if you are standing on the truth, then stand still. Fear nothing. The truth is all that ultimately matters. If he made sexual advances to you and has tried to press you into submission, never give up. It doesn’t matter if you have no proof. The truth will set you free even if you go to prison. The best freedom is internal freedom. The peace of mind that truth gives.

  • Senator Natasha’s suspension: Orji Kalu advocates for salaries of aides

    Senator Natasha’s suspension: Orji Kalu advocates for salaries of aides

    Amid the Senate’s deliberations on the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has called for empathy towards her aides, urging that their salaries and wages should not be withheld.

    During the plenary session, Kalu proposed an amendment to the committee’s recommendations, which initially included a provision to suspend the salaries of Akpoti’s staff. He argued that the aides, who are employees of the National Assembly (NASS), should not suffer the consequences of their principal’s suspension.

    Senator Kalu emphasized the financial hardship that such a decision would impose on the affected staff and their families.

    “We cannot punish the aides of Senator Natasha for an offence they did not commit. They are staff of the National Assembly and have no other means of livelihood apart from their salaries. It would be unjust for us, as a Senate, to deny them and their families their earnings.”

    “I move that we amend that section and allow them to receive their salaries.”

    The appeal, signed by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, representing Abia North Senatorial District, highlights his stance on ensuring fairness in the Senate’s disciplinary actions.

    As the debate continues, it remains to be seen whether the Senate will heed Kalu’s plea and revise its decision regarding the aides’ salaries.

  • Senator Natasha resubmits sexual harassment petition against Akpabio

    Senator Natasha resubmits sexual harassment petition against Akpabio

    ABUJA – The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and NGOs, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has once again resubmitted a sexual harassment petition against Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary.

    This time, she submitted the petition on behalf of her constituents, led by Zubairu Yakubu.

    Following the presentation, Senate President Akpabio inquired whether there were any legal impediments to accepting the petition.

    Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan responded that there were none. At 12:38 PM, Akpabio instructed her to formally lay the petition before the Senate.

    The petition was subsequently referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, led by Senator Neda Imasuen (LP, Edo South), with a directive to report back to the plenary within four weeks after legislative review.

    This development follows a similar petition submitted by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan the previous day, which sparked controversy. The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Mohammed Monguno (APC, Borno North), had raised a point of order, citing Senate Standing Order 40.

    He argued that the matter could not be entertained or referred to the Ethics Committee, as it was sub judice due to an ongoing court case involving Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and Ekaette Akpabio, the wife of the Senate President.

    Monguno also contended that the petition could not be considered since Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had personally signed it.

    As a result, the Senate Ethics Committee dismissed the petition, declaring it “dead on arrival.”

    This latest petition adds to the ongoing tensions between Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Akpabio.

    Just last Thursday, a heated confrontation erupted in the Senate chamber when Akpoti-Uduaghan protested the reassignment of her seat by Akpabio. She arrived at the session to find her nameplate removed and her seat reassigned, prompting her to demand an explanation for what she perceived as an unjustified move.

  • BREAKING: Senate Committee wants Senator Natasha suspended for six months

    BREAKING: Senate Committee wants Senator Natasha suspended for six months

    The Senate Committee on Ethic has recommended that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan be suspended for six months amid her sexual harassment allegation against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

    The committee also recommended that the Senator representing Kogi Central must apologise to the Senate for ‘disrespecting the Senate.”

    During the period of the suspension, the committee stated that her salary and security details should be withdrawn.

    Details later…

  • Civic group raises alarm over alleged AI  voice cloning conspiracy targeting Akpabio

    Civic group raises alarm over alleged AI voice cloning conspiracy targeting Akpabio

    A civic organization known as the Societal Safety Network (SSN) has issued a warning regarding a purported scheme aimed at damaging the reputation of Senator Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Nigerian Senate, through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

    During a press conference held in Abuja on Sunday, Comrade Olalere Benedict, the Deputy Director of Publicity for SSN, asserted that this campaign involves the creation of AI-generated voice recordings and manipulated videos designed to disseminate false information about Senator Akpabio.

    The group claims that this alleged initiative is part of a larger strategy to discredit the Senate President and erode the integrity of the National Assembly.

    Benedict further accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of previously engaging in similar tactics, referencing controversies associated with the Ajaokuta Steel Company.

    In light of these serious allegations, the SSN has called upon Nigerian security agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Police Force, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), to thoroughly investigate the situation.

    The organization also cautioned the public to be wary of misleading content generated by AI, emphasizing that this purported conspiracy could lead to misinformation and damage the Senate’s reputation.

    “We urge security agencies to stay alert and take the necessary actions to prevent the proliferation of this harmful propaganda,” Benedict said.

  • Akpabio frustrates me because I refused to sleep with him — Senator Natasha

    Akpabio frustrates me because I refused to sleep with him — Senator Natasha

    Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, has accused the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment on a live television programme.

    Natasha and Akpabio have been in the news since last week following her refusal to move to a new seat the Senate President allocated to her.

    Telling her side of the story on Arise TV on Friday, February 28, 2025, the lawmaker said her trouble in the senate started because she refused to sleep with Akpabio.

    Detail later….