Ex-Presidential Adviser and senator, Florence Ita-Giwa has said Senate President Godswill Akpabio has no right to intimidate elected female senators.

Ita-Giwa reacted to the sexual harassment claim made by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, stating that women in the Senate cannot be sexually harassed once they are elected.

Akpoti-Uduaghan recently accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of frustrating her efforts to raise motions concerning the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State because she allegedly refused his sexual advances.

The claim was made during a live television interview on March 4, 2025, on Arise TV.

In response, Ita-Giwa, who represented the Cross-River South Senatorial District, criticized the notion that female lawmakers could be victims of sexual harassment once they are elected.

She asserted that once a woman contests and wins a senatorial seat, she has moved beyond such experiences and is no longer vulnerable.

“By the time you contest elections and get to the Senate, you have passed that stage of your life of being sexually harassed,” Ita-Giwa said.

“You go there to serve, and you are all equal in that place.”

Ita-Giwa also suggested that complaining about sexual harassment in the Senate is a sign of weakness. “It shows weakness; you don’t allow it. It (sexual harassment) cannot happen in the Senate,” she added.

While she clarified that she was not accusing Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan of lying, Ita-Giwa stressed that women in politics should be seen as equal to their male counterparts.

She emphasized that achieving a senatorial seat is no easy feat and should empower female senators to stand strong against any form of harassment.

“I am not saying the lady is lying, but when you get to the Senate, you’re there as a person. You’re not there as a woman,” Ita-Giwa remarked.

Ita-Giwa further stated that it is unproductive for female senators to publicly accuse their male colleagues of harassment, calling it “the worst sign of weakness”.

Her comments have sparked a heated debate over the treatment of women in Nigerian politics, with many questioning the implications for future claims of sexual misconduct in the political arena.

Natasha has made it abundantly clear that she has valid evidence that she was sexually harassed.

Two people, including the driver and motor boy, died when a tanker, suspected to be ladened with petroleum products, exploded in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The incident, which happened in the early hours of Tuesday at the New Garage area, Oluyole local government area of the city, has thrown the entire people in the neighborhood into a state of mourning.

Men of the Oyo State Fire Service, with the assistance of the security agencies, are battling hard to prevent the inferno from spreading to other commercial outlets and residential buildings.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, announced on Monday that 1,687,860 candidates have already registered for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.

The board stated in its weekly bulletin that registration has been ongoing for 26 days, beginning on 3rd February 2025, with just six days remaining before the deadline on 8th March.

The 2025 UTME is scheduled to take place from Friday, 18th April 2025.

JAMB had earlier projected two million candidates for the examination.

Providing a breakdown of the ongoing registration, JAMB disclosed that in the first week alone, 201,867 candidates registered. In the second week, the number rose to 560,025, followed by 528,832 in the third week. By the fourth week, the total had increased to 1,290,715.

The board reiterated in its bulletin that there would be no extension of the registration period beyond 8th March 2025.

A review of the immediate past UTME in 2024 showed that 1,989,668 candidates registered for the exam. Of these, 1,904,189 sat the examination, while 80,810 were absent.

A total of 1,402,490 candidates—73.7 per cent of those who sat the exam—scored below 200, while just 0.4 per cent achieved scores above 300.