Suspended Kogi Central lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Sunday, issued a biting and sarcastic “apology” to Senate President Godswill Akpabio over her earlier accusations of sexual harassment against him.
Her letter — dripping with satire — was made public while Akpabio was away in Rome attending the funeral of Pope Francis. The senator’s scathing message was circulated among journalists in Abuja.
Recall that Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended from the Senate on March 6 after a heated dispute over a controversial seating arrangement, which she alleged was orchestrated to humiliate her. Tensions escalated when she went on national television to accuse Akpabio of retaliating against her for rejecting his alleged sexual advances.
The feud reached the international stage when, during a “Women in Parliament” session at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting at the United Nations in New York, Akpoti-Uduaghan called for international scrutiny of the Nigerian Senate. She decried what she described as harsh retaliatory actions against her, including the withdrawal of her security detail, salary cuts, and a six-month suspension.
Amid legal battles, a court order eventually barred both sides from making public statements on the matter pending the case’s outcome.
However, breaking her silence two days after Akpabio led a federal delegation to the Vatican, Akpoti-Uduaghan issued a mocking letter titled, Apology Letter to the Distinguished Senate President, laced with heavy sarcasm.
It read in part:
“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 now realise the catastrophic consequences of my actions: legislation delayed, tempers flared, and the tragic bruising of egos so large they require their own postcodes.
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.”
The fiery letter reignited the controversy between the two political figures, even as the legal dispute remains unresolved.
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