Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Relations, Senator Neda Imasuen, has dismissed allegations of sexual misconduct against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, stating that no female senator has complained about harassment.
Naija News reports that Imasuen’s comments comes in the wake of accusations from Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who alleged that Akpabio made inappropriate advances towards her during a visit to his residence in Akwa Ibom last December.
Natasha further claimed that a similar incident occurred when she visited his office to discuss her motion on the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
In an interview with Arise News on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 Imasuen emphasised that interactions in the Senate are often lighthearted, and any perception of familiarity as harassment is misplaced.
Addressing concerns about perceived bias in recognising senators during proceedings, Imasuen noted it a matter of privilege in the Senate, stressing that all lawmakers occasionally feel overlooked and it has happened to him many times.
The Senator insisted that Akpabio does not discriminate against the female gender.
He “We have four female senators in this assembly, and I am close to three of them. It is a matter of privilege, and I don’t think it is directed at any individual because of sex.
“If I were to give you my own experience, there are many occasions that I also complain. There are times I raise up my hands and the senate president does not recognise me but he recognises someone behind me and I am wondering why. But he cannot entertain every senator at a sitting who has an opinion ad so it takes his prerogative and I don’t believe that he does so because of the sex of the senator,” he explained.
‘We joke a lot in the Senate. If you sit in the Senate for four or five months or even a year, you will understand. We see each other every day. If familiarity is what is being consideSenatorsome sort of harassment, then I don’t know. But for me, I don’t think that the conduct of the senate president is such that isSenatort the female.”0
