News
Akpbio-Gate: Natasha must have misconstrued jokes for sexual harassment – Senate
It is possible that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan could have misunderstood an intended familiarity that obtains amongst members as sexual harassment, Neda Imasuen, Senate Committee Chairman on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Relations, offered on Wednesday, as he weighed in on a matter which has sparked huge controversy in the country since last Friday.
Imasuen, Labour Party (LP) Senator representing Edo South, who poured cold water on the allegation, where his Kogi Central colleague gave a graphic account on the alleged attempt by Akpabio to bed her, spoke, while appearing on The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS.
Pushing back against the allegations of sexual misconduct against Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, he alluded to the usual penchant for members to mix their official duties with a lot of interpersonal, lighthearted conviviality, saying it might have been misunderstood.
His words: “We have four female senators in this assembly, and I am close to three of them. It is a matter of privilege, and I don’t think it is directed at any individual because of sex.
“We joke a lot in the Senate. If you sit in the Senate for four or five months or even a year, you will understand. We see each other every day. If familiarity is what is being considered as some sort of harassment, then I don’t know. But for me, I don’t think that the conduct of the senate president is such that is against the female.”
The opposition Senator, using his own experience, defended Akpabio against perceived bias, saying there were no special privileges, he observed so far being extended to individual Senators by the Senate President, whom he said, reserved the right to manage the Red Chambers as he deemed fit.
Arguing for instance that it was not possible for the 109 Senators to make contributions in a single sitting, he said to do so would require more than 24 hours to achieve, which meant that Akpabio would have to adopt some personal ingenuity to manage the Senate, which he had been doing so far.
Hear him: “If I were to give you my own experience, there are many occasions that I also complain. There are times I raise up my hands and the Senate President does not recognise me but he recognises someone behind me and I am wondering why. But he cannot entertain every Senator at a sitting who has an opinion ad so it takes his prerogative and I don’t believe that he does so because of the sex of the senator.”
Regardless, the Edo Senator, who confirmed that his committee had actually brought forward its sitting on the disciplinary matter now facing the Kogi Senator, assured that Akpoti-Uduaghan would get fair hearing from during the sitting on her matter.
Trouble started on February 20 when the Kogi Senator engaged in open confrontation with the Senate President during plenary, for being forced to move from her original seat, which by official explanation, arose after two opposition senators defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), prompting a reshuffling of seat assignments.
Akpoti-Uduaghan argued that her privileges had been violated and attempted to raise a point under Senate Order 10, leading to a tense exchange, a position Mohammed Monguno, Senate Chief Whip dismissed as untenable, given that Akpabio reserved the authority to reassign seats and that lawmakers were required to speak from their designated positions.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director-General (DG) of an alleged “non-existent,” Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Abdulrahman Bello, must die for the murder, Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, the Court of Appeal has insisted, rebuffing the attempt of the self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, to upturn the verdict of an Ilorin High Court.
Affirming the earlier death sentence imposed on cleric for the murder of the female student, said to be his lover, on February 10, 2025, at the Olunlade area of Ilorin, which attracted widespread public outrage across Kwara State and beyond, the appellate court said it found no reason to upturn the earlier verdict of the lower court.
Bello, who was one of the five people arraigned on charges bordering on conspiracy, murder, unlawful removal and possession of human parts and blood, also faced a rape charge, of which he was eventually acquitted by the trial court.
Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, who led a three-man panel of the appellate court, while dismissing his appeal, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he murdered the victim and was unlawfully in possession of human parts.
The appellate court consequently upheld the judgment of the Kwara State High Court, which sentenced Bello to death by hanging and imposed an additional 10-year jail term over his conviction for unlawful possession of human parts.
The court held that there was no merit in the appeal and consequently affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court.
According to the appellate court, the trial court properly evaluated the evidence before it and rightly concluded that the prosecution established the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
The appellate court said it believed the position of Ibrahim Sulyman, Kwara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Issa Zakari, Chief State Counsel, and B.L. Abdulsalam, Assistant Chief State Counsel, who led the prosecution.
Hailing the judgment as another significant milestone in the state’s criminal justice administration, Sulyman, said in a statement: “The judgment underscores the commitment of the Kwara State Ministry of Justice and the judiciary to ensuring that criminal cases are determined strictly in accordance with the law and the evidence presented before the courts.
“It also reaffirms the principle that persons found guilty of grave offences, after a fair trial, will be held accountable under the law. The appellate court’s decision would strengthen public confidence in the justice system.
“The affirmation of the conviction and sentence represents another milestone in the administration of criminal justice and reinforces public confidence in the rule of law and the appellate process. The convict still retains any further rights of appeal available to him under the Constitution and other applicable laws.
Justice Hannah Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court, sitting at Ilorin, hand on July 2025 sentenced Bello to death after finding him guilty of murdering and dismembering Lawal, after describing his act as “the highest degree of human wickedness, and a premeditated and cold-blooded act.”
Dismissing Bello’s claims that he loved the deceased and intended to marry her as merely an afterthought designed to deceive the court, Ajayi, also ruled the convict’s conduct after committing the crime and before his arrest suggested that it might not have been his first involvement in such an act, while a book on money-making charms recovered from his apartment further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
Justice Ajayi further held that the video and written confessional statements obtained by operatives of the Department of State Services and the police were lawfully admitted in evidence, dismissing Bello’s allegation that he was tortured into making the confessions.
While acquitting Bello of the rape charge, the trial court convicted him of murder and unlawful possession of human parts, sentencing him to death by hanging for the murder and imposing a 10-year prison term, with an option of a N100,000 fine, for the human parts offence.
The court also discharged and acquitted the four other defendants in the case — Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhydeen, Jamiu Uthman and Abdulrahman Jamiu — after holding that the prosecution failed to establish their involvement in the offences.
Reacting to the High Court judgment at the time, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, described the killing as tragic and commended the judiciary for ensuring justice.
“The gruesome murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal was pathetic, unfortunate, regrettable and worrisome,” the monarch said in a statement issued by his Press Secretary, Abdulazeez Arowona.
“The judgment has further brightened the hope and trust of the people in the judiciary and security agencies. May Almighty Allah repose the soul of the late Hafsoh Lawal and comfort her family members.”
The monarch also urged parents and guardians to be vigilant and closely monitor the activities and movements of their children and wards to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
By the time they discovered that were surrounded, and had no escape route, the terrorists were the ones now begging to be let off, but their pleas were rebuffed due to the determination of the operatives to finish the job once and for all.
This was part of the account of Chinedu Nnebeife, a Major General and the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Nigerian Army, who led the rescue operations to free the 44 pupils and teachers, victims of the kidnap incident in Oyo State, last weekend.
Hear him: “We went in with some hunters and local vigilantes, but nothing positive happened that day. By the grace of God, on the 10th of July, we successfully rescued 44 of them. I have always said we will never yield to terrorists’ demands. We will not, and we never will.
“At the last phase of the operation that we had, we were blocking their major logistic. We went to a town called Ashamu to block the place, and it finally put pressure on them, and it was now they were willing to release unconditionally. But we are not giving up on them.
“We said, no, it’s not about releasing. We must see to the end of the terrorists operating in that particular region, and of course, indeed, the whole part of the country, and the glory of God, we have them here.”
Giving some details that led to the successful operation, the GOC described how drones of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), deployed to locate the actual spot the abducted victims were kept, failed because they could not penetrate through the thick canopy of the Old Oyo National Park.
Stating how the failure of aerial surveillance forced troops into a ground assault that claimed the lives of an officer and a soldier, Nnebeife told reporters, on Monday: “Because of the nature of the forest, how thick it is, we had drone teams, we have Nigerian Air Force following up, but in some of those areas, you can’t even see, if you are under that base, you can’t see the rays of sunlight from those places and the Air Force flew, they couldn’t see anything.
“The drone team also flew, we didn’t get anything from those things and that was how we insisted on ground operation. It has to be ground, we have to go deep into the forest, and it’s during one of these operations that we lost the officer and the soldier, that particular day, and some other ones who were wounded. One of them is actually serious because he has a broken arm due to gunshot wound.
“The operation continued and we had to like involve a lot of agents, and I had to take over the whole operation completely from the garrison commander because we had to now bring in troops and forces from different places, providing intelligence, and I had to coordinate all these teams together.”
The ordeal of the victims who spent 56 days in captivity after gunmen stormed three schools in the Ahoro-Esiele, Yawota and Alawusa communities on May 15 and took them away, raised a lot of dust within Nigeria and across the globe.
Speaking further on the ugly situation, the military top brass listed the units that took part in the operation to include the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the National Counter-Terrorism Unit tactical team, and the Defence Headquarters Special Forces team made up of personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Department of State Services (DSS), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the National Intelligence Agency (NDA).
Stating how the Nigerian Police also deployed separately from the special forces, alongside a DSS team from Oyo State and an Air Force Tactical Operations Group unit drawn from Kainji with fighter aircraft support, while troops from Operation Savannah Shield in Gwara formed a blocking force on the northern flank of the state, he said the first attempt to reach the victims, carried out with hunters and local vigilantes soon after the abduction, also failed.
-
News3 days agoBREAKING: Mystery death! *Female student dies a day after arriving Umahi’s home!
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Troops rescue wife of kidnapped General! *Terrorists flee scene
-
News3 days agoDon’t jump to conclusion! *Umahi speaks on mysterious death of female students!
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Count me out, Okonkwo tells Atiku *Amaechi VP’s choice an insult to Ndigbo
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Court sentences Nigerien, two others to death over terrorism
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: EX-SSG mowed down by gunmen! *He resisted being kidnapped – driver
-
News3 weeks agoTwo hours after Igboho’s ‘red-eyes’ to ‘Fulani’ leaders, gunmen free kidnap victims!
-
News3 weeks agoAbductors of Oyo teachers panicking, freedom coming for victims soon!