I “kind of” like Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and his lovely wife, Unoma. She is Igbo, married to Akwa Ibom, so she also bears the name Ekaette.
When Akpabio was the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, I admired the couple no end. The two usually displayed their love for each other publicly. Unoma would use fan her husband each time she was there and he was making a speech. Atimes, she would use a white handkerchief to wipe sweat off Akpabio as he read. Akpabio also reciprocated in kind. He did the same for her.
Our high profile Leaders hardly show their love for their spouses publicly. We admire the Obamas, for instance, when they hold each other in public, kiss and dance – even the Trumps- but our own people are stiff. Akpabio, I don’t know about now, was different when he was Governor. I will also say that for my State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and his beautiful wife, Chioma. They hold hands and cling to each other publicly, even in Church, as if they just met. Good for family values.
So, it is because of my admiration for the Akpabios that I had, in the past years, refrained from criticizing Senate President Akpabio. When I remember his loyal wife, a calm and collected polished lady, I hold back. It was why I held back when Akpabio got the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senatorial ticket in a very untidy manner. It was not his. He literally snatched it from a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Udom Ekpoudom, a man who has been given the short end of the stick both in the Police Force and Politics.
Ekpoudom, brilliant Police Officer, was forced to retire, prematurely, a couple of weeks after he was promoted to the rank of a DIG all because a new IGP was appointed, and the former IGP and his management team, whose member Ekpoudom just became, were retired with him.
Hard luck It pained him. Waste of resources, if only Nigerians know how much it takes and costs one to get to that rank. He wanted to go to Court to challenge his retirement. I now forget, exactly, why he did not take that route. He had my sympathy. I have always been against the often- times mass retirement of the Police Management Team each time a new IGP is appointed. It’s waste of human resources. But this is a story for another day.Godswill Akpabio and his Wife with Natasha Akpoti
I digressed. I was talking about why I did not react when Akpabio surfaced and snatched a ticket already won by DIG Ekpoudom. As explained earlier, it was because of my admiration of the Akpabios open display of love for each other. It was, also, why I held on when Joy Nunieh, a former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, publicly said she slapped Akpabio, then the Minister for Niger Delta, for making, how do I put it without being offensive? So, okay, of making inappropriate advances towards her; it was why I held on when Akpabio, months ago, literally, referred to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as a club girl; it was why I held on when he kept making gaffe after gaffe on the floor of the Senate. But now, I have had it down to my neck. I am choking. And the only thing I know is that I can no longer hold it.
As I watched and listened to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan this Friday morning of 28 February, 2025, stripping Akpabio naked in the market square, I had to clean my eyes and my ears a couple of times to make sure I was not in dream, that I was seeing well, and my ears were
There Akpoti-Uduaghan sat in Arise Television’s studio, sure-footed, confident, boldly, telling the World, not just Nigerians, that Nigeria’s Senate President has no character. There she was, making scandalous allegations of se€ual harassment against Nigeria’s number three citizen. There she was telling us that Senate President Godswill Akpabio is a se€ual predator; that he is a man of such loose character that he would make passes at her, even with her husband right behind them. There she was, telling us that Akpabio is so loose, and so disrespectful of his wife and marriage vows that he would invite her to his country home so two of them would spend “quality time” together. I mean, not in a hotel, but in the house where he lives with his wife and children! There she was, telling us that his office at the Senate may not be for official matters only; that he dared to tell her to “take good care of him”, so as to be allowed to present a motion that would be for the good of her Constituency, her State and Nigeria. There she was, composed, her voice steady, telling us that she usually put her phone on speaker at night when she is in bed with her husband, and Akpabio calls, like a love struck teenager, so her husband could listen. I blushed.
There she sat, exuding self confidence, telling us that because she did not give in to Akpabio’s, alleged, inappropriate requests, he wouldn’t give her the room to do the work for which she was elected. She said she’s been denied her rights and privileges; that she’s been humiliated, mistreated and faced intimidation. Hmmm!
My first reaction was that this is not happening. There’s a mistake somewhere. Akpabio? Not again. Not after Nunieh. But Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan then nailed it when she equated what she’s been going through to that of a female University student whose Lecturer deliberately marks down because she refused to “give in”. I gave up. My heart sank.
I know most men, especially politicians, don’t bother about these things. But they have families – you know, wives, children, grandchildren some of whom read these things.
Akpabio is not just the third most powerful man in the country, he is a husband, father, grandfather. So, I thought about his wife and children. How they felt as they watched and listened as Akpoti-Uduaghan stripped their husband and father naked before the world. Did Unoma freeze? Or is she used to these allegations.
I have since read her. She did what most wives of politicians, especially, at that level, will not do. They usually keep quiet, even when they are seething in anger and embarrassment. But not Mrs Akpabio. She jumped to her husband’s defence. She made out Akpoti-Uduaghan as a liar. She called her a blackmailer. Her husband is a good man, a disciplined man who jokes a lot, and so is usually misunderstood, she said. I tried to make meaning out of that. Did she mean that her husband must have been joking when he, according to Akpoti-Uduaghan, invited her to come spend quality time with him in their country home? So, it was Akpoti-Uduaghan that read meaning into “quality time” when the man was obviously joking? Perhaps wanted both of them to work on serious files? Infuriated, Mrs Akpabio threatened to sue Akpoti-Uduaghan. What would she sue her for? No allegations were made against her. So what would she tell the Court. It is her husband, I thought, who should sue not her. It is her husband who should have issued a statement to address the issues raised, not her. But you know this thing about law. I am so illiterate when it comes to it. I hardly understand it. Mrs Akpabio has made good her threat. She has sued Akpoti-Uduaghan for, you guessed it, emotional trauma. And as if to tell the Senator that “my Mercedes is bigger than yours”, she sued for N250bn, surpassing Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suit against her husband by N150bn. The way these people throw billions around “fear me.” Soon, it will be Trillions. And the masses will still be scavenging to eat, no matter how poorly, once a day.
For the records, the allegation made against Akpabio by Akpoti-Uduaghan is serious. It is the shame of a country. It is not to be treated lightly. It is our Number three citizen we are talking about here. It is his name and reputation and credibility that are being thrown around this loosely. The issue at stake here is that of an alleged se€ual harassment. It is the same case for which University Professors have been shamed and jailed. It is why a number of female students are going through hell in school. That such allegations could be made against the Senate President is not funny.
They must not be swept under the carpet as we usually do. In the Ninth Senate, a two-term Governor, who ended up in the Senate like most of his colleagues, was videod making it out with two young girls in a near-dingy environment. When the video made the rounds on Whatsaap, the Senate made no “pim”. It was the silence of the grave. A couple of days later, he shamelessly returned to the Senate Chambers, like nothing happened. Worse, his wife, who then was a member of the House of Representatives, treated it as nothing. She never missed a sitting. I felt for her. However, the Akpabio case is more high profile than that. This is Nigeria’s Senate President Vs a Female Senator.
In more civilized climes, Akpabio would have, by now, stepped down from office to clear his name, to fight this battle. And my advice: He should not keep quiet. It is not a family business, a family affair. He should not say: “my wife has sued”. He should perish the thought. This is official business that affects the reputation of our country. And, it will be a mistake to suspend Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan now without a transparent independent investigation. Akpabio will be chewed raw if she is suspended just like that.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, in her interview said her husband is very close to Akpabio; that her husband loves him. It is the same sentiment Mrs Akpabio expressed. She said both families are very close; that they had been, even before Akpoti-Uduaghan happened on the scene. I guess no longer. A stunningly beautiful woman who happened on the scene has seen to that. But please, nobody should tell us the two families should settle this. It has gone beyond them. All cards should be on the table.
It is easy, as I have read from some platforms to say: “Eh, women. That’s their stock in trade. When they want to attract sympathy, they throw in se€ual harassment. Not true. Not in most cases. Some men are incapable of putting their libido in check. Everybody, anybody, goes for them – married women, friends’ wives, teenagers, minors, househelps, even their brothers’ wives, their sisters their daughters. None is too sacred for them to want to sleep with. These days, it is the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah live. This is why Akpabio must embark on a vigorous defence of his character and credibility. The office he holds is too high to be associated with this. It is like a fly which perched on the scrotum. Do you kill it or leave it. I advice Akpabio to kill it and endure the pain, because if left to perch and go freely, it will come again.
Incidentally, this is not the first time a high profile woman would allege se€ual harassment against Akpabio.Why him all the time?
As earlier noted, a former Ag. MD of NDDC, Ms. Nunieh, made same allegation against Akpabio when he was Minister for Niger Delta. She even said she slapped Akpabio in the process. Nothing much was heard thereafter, but she was quietly left alone; no more threat of arrest till date.
Here’s what I think Akpabio should do. He should take this current allegation seriously. He should encourage, and submit to a transparent investigation. He should head to the Court to prove his innocence. Akpoti-Uduaghan says she is ready. She has called Akpabio out. She said she has evidences and witnesses, including her husband, and Whatsaap messages. She has even offered the Security Operatives her phone to thoroughly check- out for confirmation. For her sake, I hope she is ready, and her evidences provable. Else, the sh*t will hit the fan. There will be no hiding place for her.
The stage is set, Mr Senate President. Go ahead. Seize the opportunity and clear your name, and reaffirm your credibility, especially, for your office and your wife, and your impeachable character to lead the Senate, the National Assembly. That is when you will be proud to be called Nigeria’s number three citizen, irrespective of the talk about how you earned the ticket. The allegations stink to high heavens. And need to not only be managed, or deodorized, but to be completely washed away, cleaned, and forgotten as a bad dream.
By Comfort Obi
