By Sunday Ani
As the controversy surrounding the sexual harassment allegation against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio deepens, media activist, Maazi Obinna Oparaku Akuwudike, has debunked claims that two notable women’s rights groups, International Federation of Women Lawyers ( FIDA) and Womanifesto, were financially induced to defend Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The allegations, made during a Facebook livestream by self-acclaimed female activist, have drawn widespread condemnation.
Speaking on Adeola Fayehun’s programme recently, Obinna dismissed the assertions as fabrications designed to discredit both the senator and the respected women’s organisations.
The female activist had claimed that Natasha confessed there was no sexual harassment and further alleged that the senator boasted of paying Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and women lawyers to defend her; a narrative Obinna described as entirely false and malicious.
“I was shocked when I heard her claim that Senator Natasha paid FIDA and Womanifesto to support her. That’s pure fiction,” Obinna stated, adding that the organisations have a long-standing record of advocating for women’s rights independently and without inducement.
“Dragging their names into this web of lies is an insult to their integrity and to the entire women’s movement in Nigeria,” he added.
He further revealed that the woman paid him N2.5 million to produce damaging documentaries targeting Natasha, a job he accepted in good faith until he watched her livestream and realised the extent of her manipulation.
He cited an audio clip she claimed proved ethnic bias by Natasha, which he said had no such content. “She twisted it to incite ethnic hatred. That was the turning point for me,” he said, distancing himself from what he called a well-orchestrated smear campaign.
“FIDA and Womanifesto have nothing to do with her fabricated claims. Their reputations should not be dragged into a mess created by someone with a disturbing history of extortion and deceit,” he said.