Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi central, says she is paying for rejecting Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s sexual advances.

She added that she had to summon the courage to speak up and damn the consequences.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was speaking in an interview with Sky News.

She was suspended from the senate on March 6 for “gross misconduct” following her seating arrangement altercation with Akpabio.

The lawmaker said she believes her suspension was illegal, unjust and a way of silencing her.

She also baulked at the senate’s position that she was not suspended over the sexual harassment claim.

“They did mention that I was suspended on account of gross misconduct but can they provide exactly what the gross misconduct was that amounted to six months suspension? The day after I submitted a petition?” she asked.

“I was suspended because of that petition, not because of any gross misconduct.

“I was only told to move my seat and I refused because I deserve to be notified, I deserve to be given a chance to explain why I should retain my seat.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan argued that her male colleagues fight, cuss and throw chairs at each other in the chamber all the time, but are never suspended for misconduct.

“Why? Because they are men? You know, there’s this culture of silence, harassment and fear, intimidation that is intertwined with our culture where a woman is supposed to sit pretty, to be seen only and not heard,” she said.

The senator said she was deprived of her rights as a lawmaker for not yielding to Akpabio’s advances.

“I found the courage to speak up. Yes, the breaking point was moving me from that seat. Silently, I have had to endure a whole lot,” she said.

“Things got difficult for me. I was always complaining.

“I’ll have a motion to pass and he’ll not let me. My husband would walk to him because they are friends and say ‘my wife has a very important bill, her constituency need this, why don’t you give her a chance to speak?’ And he’ll say ‘next time’.

“Each time I walk to him alone, he’ll tell me, ‘you know what, right here, I’m the chief presiding officer of the national assembly, so you have to please me, make me happy to get these privileges’.

“That happened several times and because I refused, it developed into malice.”

Akpabio has denied sexually harassing Akpoti-Uduaghan.

A drama played out at the federal high court in Lagos on Thursday after a suspect granted bail was rearrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The court granted N50 bail to Audu Friday, a cybercrime suspect facing charges preferred by the commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft agency arraigned Friday on Monday alongside two Chinese nationals and a company on a 12-count cybercrime charge.

The other defendants are Huang Haoyu, An Hongxu, and Gentting International Ltd.

They all entered a plea of not guilty.

According to the EFCC, the defendants allegedly conspired to commit the offences with Dualiang Pan, who is now at large.

Bilikisu Buhari, the EFCC counsel, told the court on Monday that the defendants allegedly willfully assessed computer systems and organised to destabilise Nigeria’s economic structure.

She also said that the defendants allegedly recruited some Nigerian youths to falsely represent themselves as persons of foreign nationalities.

The EFCC counsel added that they allegedly recruited one Chukwuemeka Okeke to retain $1.2 million in his crypto wallet, which they ought to know forms part of fraudulent activities.

She said the defendants also kept Alhassan Garba and Ifesinaci Jacobs as recruits under them to retain $1.3 million in their crypto wallet.

They were also alleged to have retained in the Union Bank account of Gentting International Ltd. the sum of N3.4 billion, which also forms part of the proceeds of their fraudulent activities.

The prosecutor alleged that the suspects transferred, among others, N106 million and N913 million to Dualiang’s UBA account, which was also the proceeds of their fraudulent activities.

She told the court that all the transfers were made from Gentting Ltd.

Besides, the defendants were said to have illegally negotiated a foreign exchange transaction with Alhassan Garba to the dollar equivalent of N1.1 billion, N962 million, as well as other sums.

EFCC alleged that they engaged in this transaction without going through the official foreign exchange market authorised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The commission said the offences contravened the provisions of section 29(2) of the Foreign Exchange Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 2004, and sections 18 and 27 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition) Act, 2015, as well as sections 18(2)(d) and 21(c) of the Money Laundering Act, 2021.

At the court session on Thursday, Clement Onwuenwunor, counsel to Friday, prayed the court to grant his client bail in liberal terms.

Emeka Opoko, the counsel to the first defendant, also asked the court to grant his client bail.

However, Buhari opposed the bail application.

“We have filed a counter affidavit on the 19th of March praying your lordship should deny bail because these set of defendants are the major kingpins in the scheme of the fraud,” she said.

She said the defendants are a flight risk.

“I urged the court to refuse bail and other accelerated trial,” the prosecution lawyer said.

In a ruling, Daniel Osiagor, the presiding judge, granted bail to Friday in the sum of N50 million and two sureties, who must be at the directorate level in the civil service.

But the court refused the first defendant’s bail and ordered his remand in Ikoyi Correctional Centre.

The third defendant, who has not filed bail, was also remanded in prison custody.

Osiagor adjourned the trial in the case to May 2.

However, the drama happened shortly after the court proceeding as EFCC operatives picked up Friday and bundled him into the commission’s bus outside the court premises.

The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a coup against democratic institutions, human rights activist and lawyer to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has said.

He regretted that sadly, the National Assembly, which should serve as a check on executive overreach, has become the weakest and most compromised legislative body in Nigeria’s democratic history.

Ejiofor in a statement in Abuja said the President’s decision is unconstitutional and an overreach of executive power.

He said, “The ongoing political struggle for control over Rivers State and its vast resources reached a critical and alarming point yesterday with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proclamation of a state of emergency. While many Nigerians expressed shock at this drastic move, it comes as no surprise to those of us who have closely followed the unfolding power dynamics. This action appears to be a calculated political manoeuvre designed to appease a powerful political godfather, rather than a genuine response to any constitutional crisis.

“For those well-versed in Nigeria’s constitutional framework, this development was a foreseeable outcome – an undemocratic last resort. A proper interpretation of Section 305 (3)(a-g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) clearly exposes the political motivation behind this decision. Rivers State does not meet any of the stipulated conditions required to justify such an extreme measure.

“The suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy, and the entire Rivers State House of Assembly is not only an outright attack on constitutional democracy but also a blatant deviation from the legal provisions governing emergency declarations.

“In simple terms, this is nothing short of a coup against democratic institutions. Sadly, the National Assembly, which should serve as a check on executive overreach, has become the weakest and most compromised legislative body in Nigeria’s democratic history.

“In my previous live broadcast, I emphasized that President Tinubu’s invocation of Section 305 was a fundamental error and an abuse of executive power. The Constitution outlines specific conditions under which a state of emergency may be declared, including:

(a) the Federation is at war;

(b) the Federation is in imminent danger of invasion or involvement in a state of war;

(c) there is actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof to such extent as to require extraordinary measures to restore peace and security;

(d) there is a clear and present danger of an actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof requiring extraordinary measures to avert such danger;

(e) there is an occurrence or imminent danger, or the occurrence of any disaster or natural calamity, affecting the community or a section of the community in the Federation;

(f) there is any other public danger which clearly constitutes a threat to the existence of the Federation; or

(g) the President receives a request to do so in accordance with the provisions of subsection (4) of this section.

“None of these conditions exist in Rivers State. There is no war, no large-scale unrest, and no imminent security threat warranting such drastic action.

“Therefore, the President’s decision is unconstitutional and an overreach of executive power.

“It is now incumbent upon both the Legislature and the Judiciary to act decisively in defence of democracy. The National Assembly must reject this illegal declaration and reassert its constitutional authority. If it fails in its duty, the Judiciary – Nigeria’s last hope for justice – must step in to uphold the rule of law and safeguard the nation’s democratic integrity.

“I commend the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) under the leadership of Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, for its prompt intervention. This is a defining moment for Nigeria’s democracy. We must not allow constitutional violations to stand unchecked. The world is watching, and the credibility of our institutions is on the line.
Let wisdom, justice, and the rule of law prevail.”