Unoma Akpabio, Wife of Godswill Akpabia, Nigeria’s senate president has defended her husband over the allegation of sexual harassment levelled against him by the Kogi central senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who appeared on Arise TV on Friday afternoon, accusing Senator Akpabio of denying her privileges because she rejected his sexual advances.
Mrs Akpabio who said Natasha’s husband was a friend to her family even before he married Natasha, said the allegation against her husband was unfortunate and demeaning to her family.
She threatened a legal action against Natasha, saying that the senate president had a lot of women around him while he was governor of Akwa Ibom State, and no woman had ever accused him of sexual gratification.
Pix: Unoma Akpabio
She said, “The accusation—I would rather call it unfortunate—is very demeaning because that is a family. We knew the husband before the husband married her. We’ve always known the man.
“They were very good friends or they are still very good friends. So I really don’t understand where this is coming from.
“I believe that for somebody to make such an allegation, there must be a discussion at home. There must have been a sanction or an approval. We are going to say this; go ahead and say it.
“If the approval had come from the husband, our friend, I believe that he would have spoken to me. Because we are close.
“And then if the wife had complained about such a thing, and he still comes, and he’s normal, there is no man that the wife would tell, oh, your friend harassed me,
“I know how you men behave; that will not frown. First of all, the attitude towards the person will change. But this attitude never changed,.
“if you are talking about the house, we don’t have any house in Ikot Ekpene. Ikot Ekpene is a local government.
“We are from Essien Udim local government. Our country home is in Essien Udim, in Ukana. And I didn’t hear anything about Ukana. We have a beautiful home in Ukana.
“If you are talking about Uyo, the house in Uyo, I’m always there. I own a school. I’m always in my school. When I finish school, I go home.
“So the home you are talking about, I’m always there. The senate president is a very, very responsible man and disciplined,” she said of the husband.
She argued that, “As a governor, the number of women we have, we had them in government. I don’t think any government has had that number of women.
“But in Akwa Ibom, when he was governor, a lot of women were involved in governance. None of them, not one, ever said something like this.
”In the past, we’ve allowed people to get away with a lot of things. And he would always tell me, ‘If you can’t stand the heat, leave the kitchen. I’m here to serve my people. They would throw mud at me. I said, but this mud is becoming too much.
“Why can’t you do something? So I’m now the one going for a legal redress,” she said .
Author: Maureen Ikpeama