‘Sexual harassment claims are a sign of weakness’ —Ita-Giwa dismisses Sen Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations

Former Cross River South Senator, Florence Ita-Giwa, has sparked outrage by dismissing Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations of sexual harassment, claiming such things “cannot happen in the Senate.”

Speaking on Arise TV on Tuesday, Ita-Giwa weighed in on the scandal brewing between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The controversy began when Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Akpabio of frustrating her motions on the Ajaokuta Steel Company after she allegedly rejected his sexual advances.

But Ita-Giwa, a seasoned politician and former presidential adviser, sees it differently.

“By the time you contest elections and get to the 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,” she said, her words igniting fierce debate on social media.

Read Also: Sen Natasha is not first female ‘colleague’ to accuse Akpabio of sexual assault

Her stance was uncompromising: making such allegations at the senatorial level, she insisted, reflects weakness.

“At that stage in politics, if you come out and say someone is sexually harassing you, it is a weakness,” Ita-Giwa declared.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations first surfaced after a dramatic confrontation in the Senate last week when she discovered her seat had been moved without prior notice. That disruption, however brief, laid bare a deeper conflict.

During her own Arise TV appearance, Akpoti-Uduaghan recounted an unsettling incident from December 2023, when she and her husband attended Akpabio’s birthday celebration at his home. She alleged that during a house tour, Akpabio made inappropriate advances, prompting her husband to warn her never to be alone with him.

While Akpabio himself has yet to respond publicly, his wife, Ekaette Akpabio, has already filed a defamation lawsuit against Akpoti-Uduaghan, raising the stakes even higher.

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