Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said he will sue former acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Joy Nunieh over her allegations of s*xual harassment against him.
Gatekeepers News reports that Akpabio made the threat during an event held in the old Senate chamber, National Assembly complex, themed ‘ Economic and Political Inclusion: Walk the Talk’.
Akpabio refuted Nunieh’s claims, describing them as baseless and alleging that she resorted to such accusations after failing to provide a valid National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.
Nunieh in July 2020 during an interview on Arise TV, alleged that she slapped Akpabio, the then Minister of Niger Delta Affairs when he allegedly attempted to s*xually harass her.
She said, “Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only Ogoni woman, the only Nigerian woman that has slapped him. I slapped him because of his plan B. Since he couldn’t get me to take that money, he thought that he could come up on me.”
Addressing the issue on Friday, Akpabio disclosed he will be taking legal action against Nunieh.
He said, “My other sister, the one they sometimes refer to as Joy Nunieh, I will like to mention her name because she will be hearing from my lawyer anytime in the next one week. Crime never dies.”
The senate president added that he decided to remove Nunieh as NDDC acting MD due to concerns over her credentials.
He said, “When I received a letter from the late Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff, stating that her certificates were questionable and she did not do National Youth Service, I wrote to the NYSC, and the NYSC responded. So I quickly changed her before it became a scandal.”
“As soon as she was changed, hell was let loose. She first said Akpabio wanted me to swear an oath of allegiance in the Villa, and they told her that the way the Villa is wired— The next thing, she came out and said, ‘He tried to touch me, and I slapped him. I am the first woman in the Niger Delta to slap him.’ So Ruben Abati now said, ‘Is it like s*xual harassment or rape?’ She said, ‘No, not rape, maybe something like that.’ He said, ‘S*xual harassment?’ and she said, ‘Yes, s*xual harassment.”
