‘My seat has been moved four times’ — Ireti Kingibe faults Natasha Akpoti on clash with Akpabio

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.

Kingibe spoke on Friday during an interview on Arise TV.

On February 20, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan engaged in a heated debate during plenary over a change in seating arrangements.

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

Speaking on Friday, 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.