As the face-off between the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan intensifies, the Kogi Patroitic Consultative Assembly, comprising of past and present political office holders from Kogi State have called on Senator Natasha to take the path of honour and apologize to the Senate leadership.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan had a fierce confrontation with the Senate President over sitting arrangements and is currently facing disciplinary actions for disobeying the Senate Standing Rules which the Senate President has a duty to uphold.
In a twist of events however, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has escalated the feud to another dimension, claiming she had previously been sexually harassed by the Senate President at an occasion the two of them attended in the past.
The Assembly at a press conference in Abuja addressed by its Convener, Hon. Kabiru Mohammed, called on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to take responsibility for her actions and refrain from acts that could possibly tarnish her political image and endanger her rising profile.
“After carefully considering the facts of the matter between our dear daughter, mother, wife and sister, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Senate President, we realized that she was at fault and it is only proper for us to advise her to tender an apology and end the feud as an experienced politician that she is.
“There is no need playing the ostrich and trying to shift the guilt from herself. Who knows, she might have acted out of ignorance or pure oversight considering the fact that she is new to the system.
“As political stakeholders, we know that rules are rules and it is not patriotic for someone of her standing to flout the Senate Standing Rules and try to cut corners by trying to implicate others. The Senate President acted within the confines of his constitutional duties and her verbal outing was unnecessary.
“It is highly unbecoming of a high ranking citizen like our dear Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to resort to blackmail and blind vilification of the Senate President to escape accountability.
“To accuse the Senate President of sexual harassment just when she has been called to order for embarrassing the Senate and the good people of Kogi State whom she respresents is uncalled for and lame.
“While we are not holding brief for the Senate President, sexual harassment is a crime which should have been reported immediately if it ever happened. Why bringing it now that she has been reprimanded for her undemocratic conduct? It is indeed needless to resort to blackmail at this point.
“Barring the technical considerations of status of limitation, we urge the Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to independently follow her case against the Senate President for sexual harassment. Drawing parallels between her actions and the firm stance of the Senate President over her infractions is unacceptable”, the group stated.
The group concluded by pledging their unalloyed support to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as a dependable representative and consumate politician but insisted that, “an apology is all that is needed to clear the mess the Senator has found herself as it will establish her as a true democrat and patriot in the Nigerian political scene”
