{"id":357793,"date":"2025-03-05T09:02:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T08:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/?p=357793"},"modified":"2025-03-05T09:02:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T08:02:45","slug":"sexual-scandal-women-group-asks-akpabio-to-step-aside-for-fair-investigation-in-akpotis-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2025\/03\/05\/sexual-scandal-women-group-asks-akpabio-to-step-aside-for-fair-investigation-in-akpotis-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Sexual scandal&#8217;: Women group asks Akpabio to step aside for fair investigation in Akpoti&#8217;s claim"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>VIEW called for a review of Senate rules that grant \u201cexcessive authority\u201d to the Senate President, enabling marginalisation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The group criticised the reassignment of Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s seat, arguing it was used to suppress female senators.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>A group of women\u2019s rights campaigners from North Central, North East, and North West Nigeria, known as Voices for Inclusion and Equity for Women (VIEW), has called for an independent inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct leveled by Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the organisation released a statement urging the Senate\u2019s Ethics Committee to swiftly investigate the claims, stressing that such serious allegations should neither be ignored nor dismissed outright.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are particularly alarmed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s allegations of sexual harassment by the Senate President and, in the first instance, demand an immediate and impartial investigation by the Ethics Committee of the House,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p>The coalition further insisted that Mr Akpabio temporarily step down to allow an unbiased and transparent probe, arguing that the Senate President must not exercise \u201cunchecked power to suppress, silence or intimidate female lawmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Senate must uphold the principles of justice and fairness, ensuring that no individual, regardless of their position, suppresses or silences colleagues, particularly female senators who remain underrepresented and vulnerable to systemic bias within the chamber,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n<p>Prominent activists, including Asma\u2019u Joda, Saudatu Mahdi, Maryam Uwais, Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, Fatima Akilu, Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, Amina Salihu, Mairo Mandara, and Kadaria Ahmed, jointly signed the statement.<\/p>\n<p>VIEW also urged a review of Senate regulations, particularly those that grant \u201cexcessive authority\u201d to the Senate President, arguing that such powers create room for misuse and discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>The group pointed to the arbitrary reassignment of Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s seat as an instance of how procedural gaps can be exploited to suppress female lawmakers within the chamber.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reallocation of seats without compliance with the rules must be restructured to promote equity and prevent the systemic marginalisation of female senators,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n<p>They highlighted the significant underrepresentation of women in the 10th Senate, stressing the urgent need for reforms to ensure \u201cgenuine gender inclusivity\u201d in legislative affairs, warning that inaction would perpetuate female marginalisation.<\/p>\n<p>The coalition further noted that this was not the first time Mr Akpabio had faced allegations of sexual misconduct, calling for decisive action against such accusations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Senate must take a stand against these allegations and send a clear message that those in power are not above accountability,\u201d VIEW said.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, they called on senators, legislative aides, and National Assembly staff, regardless of political affiliation, to uphold justice by ensuring Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan receives a fair hearing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BACKSTORY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The controversy started when Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s seat was unexpectedly reassigned in the Senate chamber without her prior approval.<\/p>\n<p>She was moved from her designated place in the minority section to the last row, a decision she strongly opposed.<\/p>\n<p>Her refusal to accept the reassignment was interpreted as a breach of Senate rules, leading the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, to reference Section 6(1) of the Standing Rules, which empowers the Senate President to alter seating arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Monguno defended the decision, citing recent defections of opposition senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), warning that noncompliance could result in disciplinary measures, including exclusion from Senate proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate President endorsed Mr Monguno\u2019s stance, and when Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan continued her objection, he cut off her microphone and ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort her out of the chamber.<\/p>\n<p>However, she refused to comply with the directive, insisting on exercising her right to be heard and maintaining her stance despite pressure.<\/p>\n<p>VIEW had earlier criticised Mr Akpabio\u2019s attempt to silence Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, condemning his order for her removal from the legislative session.<\/p>\n<p>Following the disagreement, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan publicly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2025\/02\/28\/just-in-natasha-akpoti-alleges-senate-trouble-started-after-rejecting-akpabios-sexual-advances\/\"><strong>accused<\/strong><\/a> the Senate President of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>She claimed that on 8 December 2023, while visiting Mr Akpabio\u2019s home in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, he grabbed her hand, led her around his residence, and made inappropriate advances\u2014even in the presence of her husband.<\/p>\n<p>In reaction, Ekaette Akpabio, the Senate President\u2019s wife, initiated two defamation lawsuits at the Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding N350 billion in damages for the alleged harm caused to her husband\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the lawsuits, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan insisted that she possesses \u201cconcrete evidence\u201d to support her allegations. Through her legal representative, Victor Giwa, she also urged Mrs Akpabio to refrain from interfering in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VIEW called for a review of Senate rules that grant \u201cexcessive authority\u201d to the Senate President, enabling marginalisation. The group criticised the reassignment of Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s seat, arguing it was used to suppress female senators. A group of women\u2019s rights campaigners from North Central, North East, and North West Nigeria, known as Voices for Inclusion and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":357354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"211693","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"0","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":{"override_bookmark_button":"0","override_show_bookmark_button":"0"},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2323,87491,66419,90,29675,87490,87489],"class_list":["post-357793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-godswill-akpabio","tag-kogi-central-senator","tag-natasha-akpoti-uduaghan","tag-senate-president","tag-sexual-misconduct","tag-voices-for-inclusion-and-equity-for-women","tag-womens-rights"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Sexual scandal&#039;: Women group asks Akpabio to step aside for fair investigation in Akpoti&#039;s claim<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A group of women\u2019s rights campaigners from North Central, North East, and North West Nigeria, known as Voices for Inclusion and Equity for Women (VIEW), has called for an independent inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct leveled by Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/2025\/03\/05\/sexual-scandal-women-group-asks-akpabio-to-step-aside-for-fair-investigation-in-akpotis-claim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;Sexual scandal&#039;: Women group asks Akpabio to step aside for fair investigation in Akpoti&#039;s claim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VIEW called for a review of Senate rules that grant \u201cexcessive authority\u201d to the Senate President, enabling marginalisation. 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