The vindication of Akpabio’s honour

Martin Luther King Jr was a great American civil rights advocate. However, what made him stand out was not so much his activism as his oratorical skills. One of the quotes credited to him is, “The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”  In the past two weeks, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, has faced the kind of crisis that will drown many a man. Recently, he came out with his honour vindicated.

Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan (Kogi Central) flouted the Senate’s rules. As the presiding officer, Akpabio had to enforce those rules after the attention of the Senate was drawn to the breach by the Chief Whip. Rather than face the infraction, Akpoti-Uduaghan decided on emotional blackmail and flank warfare. She left the substance of the matter to pursue shadows. She accused Akpabio of sexual harassment, not on the floor of the Senate, as the rules will require, but on national television.

She faced three challenges: One, the accusation lacked logic, especially when subjected to a time sequence test. For example, she claimed the advance took place in December 2023, after which the husband advised her not to travel abroad with the Senate President. Some months later in 2024, she did, taking selfies which she proudly published. Two, she had a history of falsely accusing men of similar infractions. The most notable was that of Reno Omokri, who successfully proved that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s accusation could not be right, given that he was outside the country at the time of the alleged offence. Three, her Senate colleagues felt she was bringing the reputation of the Senate to public opprobrium, especially given that the matter had nothing to do with the Senate President. Besides, there was a perception that Akpabio favoured Akpoti Uduaghan, despite her being a first-time senator. In other words, she took a matter from the floor of the Senate to the public and, in doing so, also made doubtful allegations against the leadership of the Red Chamber.

As is the rule, the matter was referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges. For the avoidance of doubt, that committee is headed by a member of one of the opposition parties. Rather than defend herself, she went to court. The committee submitted a report recommending a six-month suspension and withdrawal of all her privileges.

There were so many interesting points to note from the saga. This matter was over the sitting arrangement. The simple issue was that she could not speak from her old seat. There was no basis for Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to escalate it to the point she did, given that other senators so affected accepted it. It means she did not even read the red order book (standing orders) of the Senate. By the next sitting, she took the seat allocated to her. If she was going to do that, why could she not simply apologise? That could have calmed the tempers of her colleagues. What was the point of accusing the Senate President when the matter had to do with Senate rules? What was the point of the protests and the mobilisation of an army of feminists to fight a cause which was neither noble nor true?

When the prayers from the committee were put to vote, the support was unanimous. Curiously, not even one of the other three female senators voted against the suspension. Akpabio, who in his magnanimous character, may have thought of a soft landing was left wondering: “How can you vary a prayer that is unanimous?” One bets that even he was surprised that there was no dissenting voice. It even took three vote calls for the Senate to create a window for her to apologise so the suspension could be reconsidered. One prays that she is sober enough to take advantage of that window.

There are lessons for Akpoti-Uduaghan. In drawing out these lessons, one will fall back on Niger Delta proverbs, which are very deep in philosophy. The first is that you must not dance naked in the marketplace. If you do, even your mother will cover her face. By toeing the path she did, she was dancing naked. This alienated even her constituency of female senators.

The second lesson is that you cannot drink pepper soup the same way you drink water. One notes Akpoti-Uduaghan’s past career as an activist. Her mistake was in bringing the formula of activism to the Senate, a hallowed, cultured and cult-like setting. While activists blindly pursue their cause, politicians, especially at the level of senators, engage in games of compromise to achieve the best possible outcomes for themselves and their constituents.

The third lesson is that clapping in the marketplace may not be to eulogise you but to spur you to provide more entertainment. It is possible that she mistook the noise on social media for support. If it were supported, the social media content would have swayed the senators whose constituents posted them. Rather, the noise pushed her to adopt a more obstinate position.

The fourth lesson is that a dancer who cannot control the drummers can dance herself lame. Who were those pushing the senator? Why did she not know when to stop?

The fifth lesson is that you cannot urinate on the same plate you eat from. It is a known fact that Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan’s husband are very close friends and so are their spouses. Akpabio even attended her marriage in Kogi and child dedication in Warri. Even if she felt aggrieved by Akpabio’s actions, an open declaration of war was not the best course of action. The relationship between the two families had enough mechanisms for conflict resolution.

The sixth lesson is that what an elderly person sees sitting down, a child may not see standing up. When Senator Ireti Kingibe, a 70-year-old colleague of hers, said on national TV that she was not on the right path, she could have retraced her steps. The age difference of 25 years is close to a university library in the lessons of life.

The seventh lesson is that a village may easily consume the pounded yam cooked by an individual, but no individual can finish the pounded yam cooked by an entire village. In taking on the entire Senate, including its leadership, what was she thinking? The moment that the Senate rallied around its leader, she was a drowning character.

The eighth lesson is that even madness has style. In any society, the cultural context is important. In a conservative society like Nigeria, the sight of a 45-year-old shouting and pointing her fingers at a 63-year-old man cum the country’s No 3 citizen was unedifying. Neither the depth of her anger nor the frustration of her spirit excuses it. In plain language, it was an insult that her colleagues could not stomach, even if the Senate President was willing to forgive her.

Akpabio came out of the crisis with his honour vindicated. Throughout the saga, he maintained a dignified posture. He said no negative words against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. It was a measure of his honour. The entire Senate rallied around him, which was a vote of confidence in his leadership qualities. The fact that the vote to suspend Akpoti-Uduaghan was unanimous means not even one senator believed that the sexual harassment allegation had any basis.

The Senate President never sought revenge. He probably perceived Akpoti-Uduaghan as a recalcitrant daughter who needed to be informed and corrected. That will explain why he put the vote on apology for reconsideration to the Senate thrice until he got a ‘yes’. His composure and leadership style are recommended to those who want to serve society.

• Ekoriko is the publisher of the UK-based NewsAfrica Magazine