Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Sunday issued what appeared to be an apology to Senate President Godswill Akpabio regarding the sexual harassment allegations she previously made against him.
However, the ‘apology’ took the form of a satirical letter addressed to Akpabio — the former Akwa Ibom governor, currently in Rome for the funeral of the late Pope Francis — and was shared with journalists in Abuja.
BizWatch Nigeria recalls that Natasha was suspended from the Senate on March 6 after a heated confrontation with the Senate leadership over a controversial new seating arrangement, which she claimed was deliberately orchestrated to undermine her role.
Tensions escalated after Akpoti-Uduaghan publicly accused Akpabio, during a live television broadcast, of retaliating against her refusal to accept his alleged sexual advances.
At the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Women in Parliament session held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Natasha called for international scrutiny of the Nigerian Senate, criticising what she described as harsh retaliatory actions against her — including the withdrawal of her security, slashing of her salary, and a six-month suspension from legislative duties.
Amid ensuing legal battles, a court ruling barred both parties from granting press interviews or making public comments on the matter.
Nevertheless, two days after Akpabio led a federal delegation to the Vatican, Senator Natasha released a pointedly sarcastic “apology letter” addressed to the Senate President.
The letter read:
“Dear Distinguished Senate President Godswill Akpabio, it is with the utmost sarcasm and profound theatrical regret that I tender this apology for the egregious offense of maintaining dignity and self-respect in your august presence.
I have spent considerable time reflecting on my unforgivable failure to comprehend that legislative achievement in certain circles is not necessarily based on merit but rather on the ancient tradition of compliance — of a particularly personal nature.
How careless of me not to realise that rejecting your… ‘requests’ was not a personal decision but apparently a grave constitutional breach against the unwritten laws of male entitlement. I must sincerely apologize for choosing competence over compliance, vision over vanity, and public service over secretive, private engagements.
I now understand the catastrophic consequences of my actions: delayed legislative progress, heightened tempers, and the delicate bruising of egos so inflated they deserve their own postal codes. For this disruption of the sacred ‘quid pro quo’ order, I bow my head in theatrical shame.
Please search within your magnanimous heart — somewhere deep beneath layers of entitlement — and forgive this stubborn woman who mistakenly believed her Senate seat was earned through elections, not erections.
Yours in eternal resistance,
Senator Natasha H Akpoti-Uduaghan
Unafraid, Unbought, and Unbroken.”
