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| Senator Florence Ita-Giwa and Natasha Akpoti- Uduaghan |
By Rose Moses
Senator Florence Ita-Giwa was on Arise Tv Tuesday, March 4, 2025, still on the Senators Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan vs Godswill Akpabio sexual harassment matter. And her position on the issue is neither here nor there.
According to her, a female Senator has passed the stage of being sexually harassed in the Senate and Akpoti-Uduaghan should therefore not be saying such on national television.
Now, isn’t that trivializing a very serious matter, and by a woman at that?
Anyway, recall that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of frustrating her efforts to raise motions about the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State, among others, due to her refusal to yield to his alleged sexual advances.
This situation, she also claimed, was reason why her seat at the Red Chamber was moved.
The claim was made on a live television program, thus sparking widespread attention.
However, former Senator Ita-Giwa from Cross-River South Senatorial District, has stirred controversy by suggesting that female senators should not claim sexual harassment, as it reflects weakness.
The statement by Ita-Giwa has expectedly ignited debate about the handling of such allegations in the Senate.
In another development, Akpabio’s wife, Unoma Ekaette, has filed defamation lawsuits against Akpoti-Uduaghan, while opposition parties are demanding Akpabio’s resignation for a transparent investigation.
Nonetheless, and back to the present debate, it would seem that at the end, and after some heated conversation with ‘The Morning Show’ hosts on Arise Television, Ita-Giwa would come to reason that a female senator shouldn’t have allowed a position where a male senator will be holding her hand and showing her round his ‘castle’ (my word), in the first instance, etc…
The holding of hands part was one of the instances Akpoti-Uduaghan cited during which the Senate President made some inappropriate hit at her.
Ita-Giwa nonetheless would, expect Akpoti-Uduaghan, or any other female Senator, to make herself unapproachable to such tendencies, and be more confident. Whatever that means, in this instance.
Ita-Giwa kind of argued that female senators should see themselves as equal lawmakers to their male counterparts because winning senatorial elections is not easy. How that has addressed the issue at stake depends on what side of the divide you are on.
So, lemme just assume that’s the long and short of Ita-Giwa’s argument this morning as she initially berated Natasha for telling the world that she’s sexually harassed by the Senate President.
And what I mean here is that I agree that Akpoti-Uduaghan should never have allowed Akpabio, going by antecedent of such men, to single her out of the rest during a retreat to begin to show her round his ‘castle’, even as she said her husband was walking right behind them.
But again, she may not have suspected any ulterior motive, since Mrs Akpabio went on to confirm that the two families are friends.
What do you think of Senator Florence Ita-Giwa’s take on this issue? Seems to me she was talking from both sides of the mouth and subtly, in the end, confirmed age-long stigma on female politicians.
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