Women in Politics, and The Case Against Akpabio
Back in July 2024, Senator Natasha tried to clarify her position on a bill beyond the Aye/Nay Dichotomy of the Nigerian Senate and the lower chambers, and the response she got from Senate President Akpabio was “We’re not in a nightclub.”
Let’s not mince words: Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, is a bully. A bully protected by a system that rewards men for wielding power like a cudgel against women who refuse to bow. This week, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan—a woman whose crime was existing unapologetically in a space designed to erase her—publicly accused and is suing Akpabio of sexual harassment and systemic victimization, after another incident where the same Senate President attempted to silence the same woman when she decried a seat rearrangement in the Senate – a seat arrangement meant to make her less visible. She is suing after the aide of the Senate President wrote publicly after this latest incident that “She thinks being a lawmaker is all about pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the Chambers.” Given that this is not the first time Akpabio is going to be alleged of this kind of sexual harassment by a woman, it is mind-boggling that Nigeria’s patriarchal machine is already scrambling to gaslight Natasha into oblivion.
In an explosive interview with Arise News, Akpoti-Uduaghan laid bare the truth behind her infamous removal from the Senate chamber. This wasn’t about “parliamentary decorum,” as Akpabio’s sycophants claimed. This was retaliation. Natasha stated unequivocally: Akpabio’s hostility began when she rejected his advances, after which he weaponized his authority to humiliate and isolate her. Whether Akpabio is guilty of this or not, the actions of the Senate after the accusation was made is also similar to what Akpabio was alleged of, as authority was weaponized to punish her for making the accusation – the Ethics committee concluded a summary investigation into Natasha within several days and recommended her for suspension without pay from the Senate, the Senate suspended her for six months and her petition against the Senate President was struck down by the Senate President himself (who was the judge in his own case).
The Arise report details how Akpabio allegedly blocked her from contributing to debates, stripped her of committee roles, and labeled her “disruptive”—a classic tactic to paint assertive women as irrational. But Natasha refused to vanish. Instead, she dragged his abuse into the light, knowing full well the cost – smear campaigns, and the full wrath of Nigeria’s political patriarchal club. Already, there is an ongoing smear campaign that she had six children from six husbands and she does not qualify to call herself a victim. There have been women protesters who don’t know what they are protesting but mobilized to protest against her. Identity politics has been used against her by getting other powerful women to speak against her Pro-women stance.
Another female senator, Ireti Kingibe slammed her objection to the seating rearrangement as entitlement and that Natasha had personal relations with Akpabio before the Senate. “This is about the rules of the Senate. So if I can point out that other women have been moved several times on that day, I wasn’t there, but I gathered that several men were also moved,” she said. A female former presidential adviser and former Senator, Florence Ita-Giwa said “By the time you contest elections and get to Senate, you have passed that stage of your life of being sexually harassed. You go there to serve, and you are all equal in that place. And again, it shows weakness; you don’t allow it. It (sexual harassment) can not happen in the Senate.” Former Senator Remi Tinubu who is presently the First Lady of Nigeria, after the illegitimate suspension of Natasha said that “I believe that the Senate is doing what is needful because that’s what it is. It is an inside place and it’s a mature chamber. It’s a mature chamber, and it should be treated with respect. It’s an honour for you to be in that place alone.” She went on to find a way to blame the victim that, “I was there for 12 years, even in my younger days, and I’m still trying to look young, but people compliment you all the time, only that, women raise yourself, don’t be in a position that men will be talking to you anyhow.” Even Akpabio’s wife sued Natasha.
This is despite the fact that Akpabio’s predation isn’t new. Rewind to 2020, when Joy Nunieh, former NDDC boss, accused him of sexual assault. She recounted how Akpabio allegedly stormed into her hotel room, demanding “favors” in exchange for career protection. When she slapped him—literally slapped power back into his face—he had her fired, her reputation shredded.
Nunieh’s story mirrors Natasha’s: reject a powerful man, and he’ll burn your career to ash. Both women were punished not for incompetence, but for daring to say no to a man who believes his position entitles him to their bodies and silence.
Predictably, Nigeria’s establishment has responded to Natasha’s allegations with a mix of mockery and malice. Male lawmakers dismiss her as “emotional.” The ‘emotional woman’ trope is meant to pathologize the survival instincts of women and condition women to equate compliance with safety. Social media trolls accuse her of “seeking attention.” Even some women, conditioned to side with patriarchy, whisper, “Why didn’t she speak up sooner?” or “Why didn’t she tell her husband sooner?”
Natasha did speak up. She is still speaking up, saying that “This injustice will not be sustained.” The system protects predators like Akpabio by design. From the Senate to corporate boardrooms, men in power collude to pathologize victims and normalize abuse.
To Every Woman Reading This – They Want You Afraid.
Akpabio’s vendetta against Akpoti-Uduaghan and Nunieh isn’t about sex—it’s about CONTROL. It’s about men who cannot fathom that women exist outside their dominion. When a woman resists, their egos fracture. So they retaliate with firings, with character assassination, with violence.
March is Women’s History Month and this is the History of how Nigeria treats women – this is Nigeria’s open secret. From lecturers demanding grades for sex to governors grooming “proteges,” powerful men treat women’s autonomy as a challenge to their supremacy. And the system pats them on the back for it.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Your courage is a wildfire. It will spread.
To every woman trapped in a workplace, classroom, or home with a man who thinks NO is negotiable – Speak. Fight. Burn their respectability to the ground!
And to Akpabio and his ilk? We see you. Take this as a sign. Your time is running out!
Mayowa Oladapo
Faculty of Arts, OAU
