Saraki insists on due process, tells Akpabio “it is disingenuous and crude to describe” demand for transparency “along … primordial lines”
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“This issue is definitely not one in which Akpabio should exploit ethnic sentiments, political division, or regional proclivity. This will neither be in his own interest nor that of the institution over which he is presiding. He should face the reality on ground and do what is right” – Saraki
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Regional sentiment claim by Senate President Godswill Akpabio in his reaction to the demand for him to ensure a transparent and open process in the investigation of sexual harassment allegations against him has been described by his predecessor Bukola Saraki as “cheap politics and trivialising of a serious issue”.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) alleged that Akpabio made sexual advances at her on three separate occasions over two years – at his home in Akwa Ibom in 2023, at his home in Abuja in 2024, and in his Senate office in Abuja in 2024, quoting the petition she resubmitted to the Senate last Thursday.
Her petition was first rejected on March 5 for not following due process but she resubmitted it the following day following due process and was accepted at Senate plenary.
Natasha alleged that her refusal to accede to Akpabio’s abuse of office and demands for sexual favours have since made him to reject motions tabled by her in the Senate on multiple occasions.
She has also reportedly said her evidence against Akpabio includes implicating telephone conversations between them which can be retrieved from the archive of MTN.
However, part of Akpabio’s response contains his claim that the sexual harassment allegations are an attempt to remove a Niger Delta person from office.
Saraki countered that in a statement he issued on Sunday through his Media Aide Yusuph Olaniyonu which urged Akpabio to read his first statement dated March 1 to understand that there is nowhere he (Saraki) suggested the resignation of Akpabio.
“Rather, he advised that Akpabio should act in the best interest of the legislative institution by ensuring that no reasonable person is left with any doubt about the fact that the allegations raised by the Senator were investigated and justifiably dispensed with,” the statement counselled.
“The attention of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office has been drawn to the statement made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio while addressing the leaders of some “youth ethnic groups” on Friday that certain individuals from Kwara and Adamawa States want him removed because he is from the Niger Delta region.
“Ordinarily, Dr. Saraki would have ignored the statement as a sign of the times in which we now live.
“However, its underlying motive of politicising and trivialising a serious issue that threatens the integrity, credibility, and importance of the legislature is the reason why we think we should not allow the Senate President to create a misleading impression of the issue at stake in the all-important institution that the National Assembly represents in our democracy.
“Dr. Saraki, in his last comment on the Akpabio-Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan crisis, never called on the Senate President to resign or step aside.
“Rather, he urged the Senate President to be conscious of the fact that perception is reality, and therefore he should avoid treating the allegations by the Senator in a manner that will create the perception that the Senate as an institution is trying to cover up issues bothering on sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and abuse of office.
“Also, Dr. Saraki made it clear that his intervention was neither about Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan nor whether her claim was right or not. He stated that since the Senator has gone public with such serious allegations against the presiding officer, the image of the institution should be saved through an honest, sincere, open, transparent, and unbiased investigation.
“In that press statement, he also pointed out that there are already existing processes recommended in the Constitution, laws of the land, Senate rules, conventions, and precedents to be followed in carrying out such investigation.
“Again, Dr. Saraki is of the firm belief that his suggestions are for the benefit of the legislative institution. So, he will repeat the same suggestion no matter where the Senate President comes from and whichever party he belongs to.
“It is not because the incumbent is a member of the APC, that the former Senate President is from the PDP or that the former is from the South-South zone while the latter is from the North Central zone. Far from it. It is disingenuous and crude to describe Dr. Saraki’s comment along those primordial lines.
“This issue is definitely not one in which Akpabio should exploit ethnic sentiments, political division, or regional proclivity. This will neither be in his own interest nor that of the institution over which he is presiding. He should face the reality on ground and do what is right.
“The former Senate President believes that when a sensitive matter suggesting sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and mistreatment of women comes up anywhere, it evokes the pains that thousands of women across the nooks and crannies of our society experience daily.
“Thus, when it is raised in a place like the legislative institution, it is an opportunity for us to handle it with utmost openness and transparency to ensure that justice is not only done but glaringly seen to be done.
“Once again, Dr. Saraki stands by and maintains his earlier suggestion to Akpabio and the Senate leadership on the allegations raised by the Senator from Kogi State.
“An open, transparent, and honest investigation of the allegations is still needed to ensure that the Senate is not cast in the image of an institution that is tolerant of sexual harassment, gender bias, victimisation and mistreatment of women, abuse of office, and enthronement of the culture of silence.
“By having such an investigation, the general public and the international community will have more confidence in our legislative institution.
“People like Dr. Saraki have made huge sacrifices in defending the integrity of the legislative institution and will not desist in speaking up for the right thing to be done. May God bless our institutions and our country.”
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