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In the political panorama of Nigeria, the accusations of sexual harassment are often welcomed with a predictable sequence of events: drugs, counter-accusation, legal threats and, ultimately, the accuser silence. The last accusation of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Auduaghan against the president of the Senate Godswill Akpabio follows this script. He says that Akpabio has harassed and victimized for having rejected his progress, an accusation that he categorically denied. In a dramatic turning point, the wife of Akpabio, Unoma Akpabio, has now intensified the controversy by presenting a cause of defamation of N250 billion against Akpoti-Auduaghan, marking the statements as mischievous and demanding damage for what she describes as an attack calculated to the reputation of her family.
This intervention is not unusual. In cases involving powerful men, the immediate response is rarely a commitment to investigations and justice. Instead, the accused often exploit their influence to discredit and intimidate their accusers. The involvement of a spouse adds another dimension, trying to present a moral counter-narrative, that a devoted husband with a loyal wife could not be guilty of these actions. However, the story has repeatedly shown that the civil status is not a shield against the bad conduct, nor the defense of a spouse is a substitute for the right trial. The cause of the N250 billion represents an aggressive move to move the conversation from the substance of the accusations to a legal battle on reputation. Instead of looking for an independent investigation to establish the truth, this action reports the intention of making Akpoti-Undughan pay a high price, financially and politically, to dare to speak.
The accusations of Akpoti-Auduaghan against Akpabio are not taking place in insulation. In 2020, Joy Nunieh, former Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) CEO, made similar statements against Akpabio, claiming that he harassed her sexually and that when he resisted, he was victims and removed from the office. His more sensational pretension-che suckled Akpabio for self-defense-has been widely reported, but like most of these cases in Nigeria, he vanished by the public discourse without a correct survey. The surprising resemblance between the experiences of Nunieh and Akpoti-Auduaghan raise uncomfortable questions about the abuse of power, on the systemic silence of women in Nigerian politics and on the culture of impunity that allows this behavior to persist. It is essential to say that although the accusation of Nunieh and Akpoti-Auduaghan against Akpabio can be similar, it is not enough to eliminate a guard of guilt on him even if he will bring the moral load for a lifetime.
In addition to Akpabio, several years ago, Senator Akpoti-Auduaghan had also accused Reno Omokri, a former presidential assistant, of trying to intimidate her after having exposed the electoral fraud in the state of Kogi. He said that Omokri has orchestrated a defamation campaign against her, using threats and disinformation to blur his reputation. These accidents underline a wider trend in Nigerian politics, in which women who challenge powerful men, who reject unwanted progress, exposing corruption or asking for responsibilities – encounter harassment, defamation and legal intimidation. Their credibility is systematically undermined, their personal lives have dismissed and used against them and the institutions that should protect them remain complicit in their oppression.
The Nigerian Senate, like most of the country’s political spaces of the country, operates as a closed confraternity in which loyalty to power has precedence over justice. The accusations against high -ranking officials are rarely investigated unless they need a political agenda. Even when the accusations are credible, the establishment quickly closes the ranks, protecting them alone from the consequences. This is the reason why the cause of Mrs. Akpabio against Akpoti-Auduaghan must be seen critically. Instead of allowing the right process to carry out, his response tries to frame the accusation as an attack on the honor of his family while the attention is removed from the need for an independent investigation to discover the truth of the otherwise in the aforementioned accusation.
The real problem does not simply concern the fact that the accusations of Akpoti-Auduaghan are true or false: it is the institutional inability of Nigeria to manage such cases with credibility. If his statements are false, this must be established through an impartial process, not through intimidation. However, Nigeria has a worrying problem to provide justice to the victims of sexual harassment, especially when the accused holds positions of power. Without independent investigative mechanisms, the victims are often left with a single option: the Court of Public opinion. This is also a dangerous path. It transforms serious accusations into media glasses in which the truth is drowned by propaganda, disinformation and power struggles.
The n250 billion cause introduces another level of complexity, as it is not only a legal action but a political declaration. It is a warning blow, not only for Akpoti-Auduaghan, but for any woman of Nigerian politics who could consider the idea of speaking against powerful figures. The scope of damage required suggests the desire to paralyze financially and reputation the accuser. Even if the cause is not successful, it serves for its purpose creating fear and hesitation for other women who could come forward with similar accusations.
This case reflects the wider dynamics of nigeria gender power, in which women in command should not only demonstrate their competence, but also navigate in a widespread political space with misogyny. When they establish, they are labeled “arrogant” or “difficult”. When they resist progress or exhibit illegal, they are welcomed with attacks designed to weaken their credibility. The case of Joy Nunieh in 2020 was a lost opportunity for responsibility. If his accusations had been correctly studied and a categorical discovery had been made in one way or another, perhaps Akpoti-Auduaghan and Akpabio Saga would no longer happen because the lessons would have been learned from the investigative result Nunieh-Akpabio. Ingurously, the culture of impunity encourages the authors and discourages the victims from going on. Remember, the victims are not silent, but they are silenced due to the systemic conspiracy of silence, inaction and blame and shame of the victims. This does not also mean that there are no cases in which women have armed those accusations themselves, knowing that they will draw sympathy. Unfortunately, nobody can claim to read the mind of an accuser of knowing if a complaint is authentic. But surely, in a society in which sexual harassment are a trend, each accusation should not be rejected but elaborated for a transparent and impartial investigation by an independent group.
If Nigeria has to break this cycle, systemic reforms must be emanated. The accusations of sexual harassment and abuse of power must be studied by independent bodies, not committees controlled by the accused or their allies. Therefore, it is not about discussing since many have that Akpoti-Auduaghan senator should have reported the claims of sexual abuse to the internal structure in the Senate. Stronger legal protections must be implemented to safeguard women in public office from harassment and gender political victimization. The Nigerian political establishment must abandon its tradition to protect the alleged authors, ensuring that the accusations are faced with transparency rather than rejected. Even more important, Nigeria must go beyond its patriarchal traditions that normalize the victimization of women in power. The place of a woman in leadership should not depend on her desire to conform to male domain expectations.
Nigeria is now in a crossroads. It can continue along the path in which the accusations of sexual harassment are regularly rejected, in which women in politics are forced to silence and where power remains a shield for predatory behavior. Or this moment may be necessary as an opportunity to redefine its political culture, one that enhances responsibility for blind loyalty, justice on suppression and truth about convenience. An independent panel should investigate this saga between the President of the Senate and the Senator. If Akpoti-Auduaghan is lying, let it be demonstrated. If he is saying the truth, he deserves justice, not only for herself, but for every woman who has been forced to silence. For now, the political elite will do what he always does: anyone ranks, check the narrative and wait for the indignation of the public to disappear. But history has a way to discover the things that institutions try to bury. If Nigeria cannot face it now, it will only be a matter of time before another woman takes a step forward with a similar story. And the cycle will continue, unless, for once, the system chooses justice on silence.
● Lemmy Ughegbe, Ph.D writes from Abuja
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