AMID fresh allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, a similar accusation was made against the lawmaker five years ago by former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Joy Nunieh.
Nunieh publicly accused Akpabio, who was then the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, of attempting to sexually assault her at his guest house in Abuja.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV, she claimed that she fought back against his advances.
“Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only Ogoni woman, the only Nigerian woman that has slapped him. I slapped him because of his plan B. Since he couldn’t get me to take that money, he thought that he could come up on me.
“He didn’t know that I’m a Port Harcourt girl. Port Harcourt girls are not moved by money…by somebody telling me that he will make me the substantive MD. Akpabio’s meetings with me were either at Apo or Meridien…Yes, I am accusing him of sexual harassment.”
Nunieh, during her brief tenure at the commission, had earlier claimed that Akpabio repeatedly pressured her to take an “oath of secrecy” to prevent her from exposing corruption at the NDDC during her tenure.
She stated that had she agreed, she might have been implicated in financial mismanagement at the commission.
Akpabio refuted the allegations, dismissing Nunieh’s claims as false and politically motivated.
He also stated that she had “temperament issues.”
“No matter the allegation, I wish that she will go to the hospital, see a doctor, take some injections and relax. I’m not saying there is something wrong with her, I’m saying there is something wrong with her temperament.
“You don’t need to ask me, you can ask about four other husbands that she married…”
Akpabio, in a statement by his Special Adviser Media, Anietie Ekong, further described the allegation as malicious and libellous.
He stated that it is “appalling that Ms. Nunieh never deemed it fit to report the alleged incident to the police at the earliest opportunity she had, before, during or after her tenure as the Acting Managing Director on 17th February, 2020, if indeed the allegation was true”.
The accusations sparked controversy at the time, but no formal investigation was conducted.
Akpabio and Akpoti plenary saga
Nunieh’s allegations resurfaced following recent claims by a female senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who also accused Akpabio of making several sexual advances toward her, both in private and in the presence of her husband.
She said her stance towards the advances was the reason for her incessant conflicts with the Senate President at plenaries within the National Assembly Complex.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s “The Morning Show” on Friday, February 28, the female lawmaker claimed she had all the evidence for her claims.
She challenged the State Security Service (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), among others to probe her allegations.
She also said three other female senators among the 109 lawmakers in the Senate had been quiet about her plight.
The ICIR contacted the media aide to Akpabio, Eseme Eyibo, immediately after the interview was over for his boss’ reaction to the accusation. He said he did not listen to the interview and would not respond immediately.
However, a media consultant to the Senate President, Kenny Okulogbo, in a chat with Punch described the allegations as tissue of lies.
He said, “All that Senator Natasha said are all tissue of lies. She is just angry because she was removed as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content. The Senate President will respond. We will make an official statement soon.”
‘This is not a nightclub’, Akpabio tells Akpoti
Recall that in 2024, Akpabio made what was widely regarded as a degrading comment when Akpoti-Uduaghan spoke on a motion during a plenary without the Senate President’s permission, an action that contravened the Senate standing order.
Akpabio, consequently, asked the senator to follow the house rule, adding that the Senate is not a nightclub where anybody can talk anyhow.
“Senator Natasha, you cannot speak without being asked or invited to speak in the Senate. This is not a nightclub,” Akpabio remarked.
Although he subsequently apologised for the comments, the duo have continued to have a face-off in the chamber since then.
Akpoti and Omokri ‘advances’ saga
The Akpabio and Akpoti controversy also resurfaced another incident.
In 2021, Akpoti stated that Reno Omokri a former presidential aide made advances at her at an event in 2014.
Akpoti had brought up the issue in reaction to Omokri’s post praising his wife while talking down on a woman who had asked to be his sugar baby.
“I rejected your si**y advances in 2014 at the Villa’s banquet hall during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s reciprocated visit…
I gave you a fake name and false contact number but…
Weren’t you married then?” she wrote.
She added that Omokri should know that the lady was joking.
Omokri said the allegation was not true, while adding that he was not in the country at the said time.
He provided his passport stamped pages to back his claim. These some netizens said was not sufficient evidence as it proved that he left the country after the said event.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M