Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Sunday, issued a sarcastic apology to Senate President Godswill Akpabio over her earlier sexual harassment allegations against him.
The apology, crafted as a veiled, satirical letter, was made available to journalists in Abuja. It came while Akpabio was in Rome leading a Federal Government delegation to the funeral of the late Pope Francis.
PUNCH Online earlier reported that Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended on March 6 following a heated dispute with Senate leadership regarding new seating arrangements — which she claimed were orchestrated to undermine her position. Tensions escalated when she accused Akpabio on national television of penalizing her for rejecting his alleged sexual advances.
During a Women in Parliament session at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Akpoti-Uduaghan had called for international intervention to hold the Nigerian Senate accountable for punitive actions taken against her, which included withdrawal of security detail, salary cuts, and a six-month suspension.
Subsequent legal proceedings saw the court bar both parties from further commenting publicly on the matter until the case’s resolution.
However, two days after Akpabio’s diplomatic engagement in Rome, Akpoti-Uduaghan addressed him in a highly derisive “apology letter.”
Excerpts from the Letter
The senator wrote:
“Dear Distinguished Senate President Godswill Akpabio,
It is with the deepest sarcasm and utmost theatrical regret that I tender this apology for the grievous crime of possessing dignity and self-respect in your most exalted presence.
I have reflected extensively on my unforgivable failure to recognize that legislative success in certain quarters is apparently not earned through merit, but through the ancient art of compliance — of the very personal kind.
How remiss of me not to understand that my refusal to indulge your… ‘requests’ was not merely a personal choice, but a constitutional violation of the unwritten laws of certain men’s entitlement.
Truly, I must apologize for prioritizing competence over capitulation, vision over vanity, and the people’s mandate over private dinners behind closed doors.
I now realize the catastrophic consequences of my actions: legislation delayed, tempers flared, and the tragic bruising of egos so large they require their own postcodes.
For this disruption to the natural order of ‘quid pro quo,’ I bow my head in fictional shame.
Please find it in your magnanimous heart — somewhere buried deep beneath layers of entitlement — to forgive this stubborn woman who mistakenly believed that her seat in the Senate was earned through elections, not erections.
I remain Yours in eternal resistance,
Senator Natasha H. Akpoti-Uduaghan
Unafraid, Unbought, and Unbroken.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s political career has been marked by fierce advocacy for women’s rights and social equity. Her current battle with the Senate leadership underscores ongoing concerns over gender dynamics within Nigeria’s legislative space.
