The Senate chamber, on most days, hums with routine. But when Godswill Akpabio and Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan cross paths, the air tightens like a courtroom holding its breath. On Tuesday, October 21, it happened again: a brief, charged exchange over a bill on abortion penalties that ended with the Senate President’s gavel cutting her off mid-sentence.
The debate had begun as a moral question—how far should the law go in punishing those who aid abortions? Soon, it turned into political theatre. When Akpoti-Uduaghan asked to speak “as a woman,” Akpabio ruled her out of order. The tension lingered long after the session ended, reviving memories of a deeper feud that had shadowed both figures for months.
Their rivalry traces back to February, when Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Akpabio of sexual harassment, claiming he had made advances toward her during a past meeting in Uyo. Akpabio denied the allegations; his wife, Ekaette, called them “malicious lies” and sued for N350 billion in defamation. What followed was a spiral: Senate suspension, counter-lawsuits, and a courtroom schedule that now runs longer than a legislative calendar.
In March, the Senate suspended her for “gross misconduct.” She called it political retribution and took her case to the United Nations. The courts later reinstated her, branding the suspension unlawful. Akpabio appealed, and the legal tangle continues.
Now, each Senate sitting feels like an extension of that struggle, with one wielding the gavel and the other her voice. Outside the chamber, court dates await: a cybercrime charge against her, a contempt suit against him. Inside, decorum masks an old distrust.
Though Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan insist they are simply doing their jobs, few doubt that the real story plays out between their silences. For now, the Senate’s drama endures with its leading actors still bound by unfinished business, and freedom, as the saying goes, not yet Uhuru.
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