Senate President Godswill Akpabio has spoken of the damaging effect on him and the Senate, of the sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Akpabio said he and other Senators felt traumatised by the allegations.

The Senate President, who spoke at an event to mark the International Women’s Day (IWD), said it was curious that no one complained or heard about the alleged sexual harassment which purportedly happened in December 2023 until “only after the change of seat and change of committee” in the Red Chamber.

Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central in the Senate, on February 28 alleged that Akpabio made inappropriate advances towards her when she and her husband visited the former governor of Akwa Ibom’s residence in Uyo during his birthday in December 2023.

The Kogi Central senator was moved from being chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content to that on Diaspora recently.

She was sent on a six-month suspension last week by the Senate for alleged breach of the Senate rules.

‘’It was only yesterday that I realised that what we are talking about only happened when there was a change of seat. That was when all hell was let loose and all sorts of allegations came up; only after the change of seat and change of committee, which my Senators know happen from time to time,” Akpabio said yesterday.

He added: “This is said to have happened on December 8, a day before my birthday, which was celebrated in the stadium in 2023.

“So from the 8th of December 2023, I never heard, my wife never heard, no Nigerian ever heard, even the husband never heard any issue of sexual harassment until her committee was changed and then her seat was changed.

“Have you ever wondered about the trauma caused by that same woman on the other people she had accused in the past?

“None has been proven so far. Do you even wonder about the trauma this caused to the 10th Senate and the image of the Senate with all these useless allegations? I have restrained myself from making a statement.

“Look at these beautiful women. They have come across me so many times. Have I ever harassed any one of you? Or is the person thinking that you are not beautiful?”

On Friday, Akpabio, while receiving a delegation of the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders Forum who paid him a solidarity visit in Abuja, took a swipe at those he said are not well grounded in the rules of the Senate yet delight in “running uninformed commentaries” on the upper chamber.

The Senate President, in a veiled response to the criticism that trailed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, said the Senate action was a unanimous one.