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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Amalgamated Southern Nigeria Youths Forum has dismissed as ‘dead on arrival’ attempts by some northern groups, including the Arewa Youth Assembly For Good Leadership (AYAGL), to remove Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, over sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The forum views the effort as a failed plot orchestrated by Northern elements.
The AYAGL had accused Akpabio of being against the North. They had claimed that he was engaging in discriminatory practices, citing the suspension of Akpoti-Uduaghan as an example.
The group had claimed that Akpabio was undermining Northern representation and called for his accountability, urging President Bola Tinubu to intervene. They also demanded the immediate reversal of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, threatening civil protests if their demands were not met
But in reaction, the South-South youth group dismissed the allegations of sexual harassment against Akpabio as politically motivated, declaring it ‘dead on arrival.’ The group claimed the allegations were part of a failed plot by some Northern elements to remove Akpabio from office. “We stand by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. The plan to remove him is an agenda by some Northern elements that was handed down to Akpoti-Uduaghan to execute, but they have failed woefully,” President of the forum, Oleh Victor, said.
The group also said the North has benefited significantly from Akpabio’s leadership, citing numerous projects and bills passed in favour of Northern Nigeria, including the North Central Development Commission bill. In a warning to Arewa Youths, the group emphasised, “We have more capacity than they do. We have the oil and gas that drive the Nigeria economy.”
They also called for fairness in the establishment of industries, noting that the Niger Delta region should not be overlooked in favour of other regions, like Kogi State.
“We strongly support Sen Akpabio against the politically motivated sexual harassment narration by Akpoti-Uduaghan,” Victor said.
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Part of the statement read: “We stand by Senate president, Godswill Akpabio. The plan to remove Sen Akpabio from office as Senate president by some Northern elements through false allegation of sexual harassment has failed. It is dead on arrival.
“We have seen very clearly that the plan to remove the Senate president is an agenda by some Northern elements that was handed down to Sen Natasha to execute but they have failed woefully as the wrongly planned sexual harassment acussation is now dead on arrival. One can see very clearly that what ordinarily should have been the affairs of the Senate has become affairs of some Arewa elements using their youths to dictate to the Senate what to do. This is laughable.
“They even alleged that the North has benefited nothing from the government since Sen. Akpabio became the Senate president. This is another false allegation like the sexual harassment allegation.
“The 2024 and the 2025 budgets were, and are loaded with a lot of projects for Northern Nigeria. In fact, so many bills have been passed in favour of Northern Nigeria, which includes the North Central Development Commission bill, which was passed under the leadership of Sen Akpabio and assented to by Mr President. One can see that Senator Natasha and his sponsors are serial liars.
“We, the Amalgamated Southern Nigeria Youths Forum, hereby, send strong warnings to the Arewa Youths and Sen Natasha to stop harassing our leader and mentor, Godswill Akpabio.
“They said they would block the roads for movements of goods and people. We hereby reply to them that we have more capacity than they do. We have the oil and gas that drive the economy. In fact, we are sending a strong warning to the Arewa Youths.
“We, the entire youth from Southern Nigeria, hereby say that you cannot have five LNG plants in Kogi State without giving any to the Niger Delta. You must consider the proximity to the source of raw material in the establishment of industry. It is not Sen Akpabio that is saying this but the entire people from Niger Delta through PANDEF the apex socio-political body of the Niger Delta, the South-South geo-political zone.
“You take your money alone from gold, Lithium, Tin and other solid minerals but you live on the money from our gas and crude oil. We have the capacity to stop all Northern Nigeria oil bloc owners from taking our oil.
“Concisely, we strongly support Sen Akpabio against the politically motivated sexual harassment narration by Senator Natasha.”
