Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has responded to recent public comments made by legal luminary Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) regarding her sexual harassment allegation against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), had in a letter dated April 14, 2025, demanded that Senator Natasha retract her allegations and provide evidence that Akpabio sexually harassed her on December 8, 2023.
Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), had in a letter dated April 14, 2025, demanded that Senator Natasha retract her allegations and provide evidence that Akpabio sexually harassed her on December 8, 2023.
She also dismissed claims that her past cordial interactions with Akpabio contradicted her complaint, stating that “civility should not be mistaken for consent or comfort.”
“Nemo judex in causa sua: no one ought to be judge in his own cause,” she said.
“To do so trivialises a serious concern of sexual harassment, especially in a workplace where there is a dominant power dynamic,” she added.
Natasha asserted that Agbakoba had no constitutional authority to demand evidence outside judicial proceedings.
“A private legal practitioner, however distinguished, is not vested with adjudicatory authority under the Constitution or any statute of the Federal Republic,” she wrote.
She concluded by standing firmly by her February 28, 2025, complaint and her court filings, urging Agbakoba to properly advise his client on the implications of presiding over matters in which he is personally implicated.
“This letter is issued solely to correct the public record and to prevent a constructive admission being inferred from silence,” she stated.
She requested that all future correspondence be directed through her legal representatives.
VANGUARD
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