Natasha Akpoti angry over her removal as local content committee chair, says Akpabio’s aide

Ken Okolugbo, special adviser and consultant on communication and strategy to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, says Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan must apologise to avoid jeopardising her political career.

Okolugbo spoke on Thursday during his appearance on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’.

He claimed the seat arrangement controversy between the Kogi lawmaker and Akpabio was exacerbated by her lingering resentment over her removal as chair of the senate committee on local content.

“The fact of the matter was that her seat was removed and there was already bottled-up anger because she was removed from the local content committee,” Okolugbo said.

“The reality of it all is that all Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan needs to do is to apologise. A written apology.

“She has been given that window. Anybody that is deceiving her to the contrary is just ruining her political career.”

Earlier, Peter Nwaebonyi, deputy chief whip of the senate, alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment claim followed her failed attempt to regain the chairmanship of a committee lost during a recent reshuffle.

He also claimed that the Kogi senator threatened to disgrace Akpabio a day before she publicly accused him of sexual harassment.

SUSPENSION

On Thursday, the senate suspended the Kogi lawmaker for six months following the adoption of the report by the committee on ethics, privileges, and public petitions.

The senate passed an amendment that the six-month suspension can be reviewed if the senator tenders a public apology to the red chamber.

The committee recommended that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s salaries, allowances, and those of her legislative aides should be suspended, along with the withdrawal of all security detail, for the duration of the suspension.

The senate approved the committee’s recommendation that Akpoti-Uduaghan should be suspended from all legislative activities effective immediately.

The red chamber also approved that her office should be locked, and she must hand over all senate properties in her possession to the clerk of the national assembly for the duration of the suspension.

Her suspension followed an altercation with Akpabio over seating arrangement.

On February 28, in an interview on Arise TV, the Kogi senator alleged that her trouble in the senate began after she rejected sexual advances from the senate president.