Senator Natasha Akpoti and former presidential aide, Reno Omokri
By CALLISTUS OFFOR, Abuja-
A past allegation of sexual harassment made by Senator Natasha Akpoti against Reno Omokri, a former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, has resurfaced on social media amidst the current allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In a recent post on his X handle on Saturday, Reno Omokri, a former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, recounted his past experience with Senator Natasha Akpoti, who is currently embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal involving Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
According to Omokri, Senator Akpoti had previously accused him of sexual harassment at Aso Rock Presidential Villa in 2014. However, Omokri provided evidence, including a First Class British Airways ticket and his passport, which proved that he was not in Nigeria at the time of the alleged incident.
Omokri stated that after he published the evidence, Senator Akpoti deleted her allegations and a video she had made insulting him and his family. The matter was later settled out of court through the mediation of a prominent Christian clergyman.
Omokri’s account comes amidst the current allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Akpabio, which Senator Akpoti has publicly leveled against him.
While Omokri did not comment on the veracity of the current allegations, he however called for a Senate investigation into the current allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, stating that he has utmost respect for the institution and its leadership. He emphasized the importance of an investigation by the appropriate Senate committee to uncover the truth.
Red the full text of his post titled:
Please Leave Me Out of The Natasha Akpoti Affair
I have been inundated with calls from almost all major media outlets in Nigeria to interview me about the issues involving the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Senator Natasha Akpoti. These media organisations wanted my take, seeing that I was once accused by Senator Natasha Akpoti of the exact grave allegations that she is now accusing the Senate President of.
Against my will, I have been trending on various social media platforms, and for the sake of my family, it would be best to put this matter to rest.
Rather than speak with multiple media outlets, perhaps I can ease the pressure on me by putting out this statement.
I do not know if what Senator Natasha Akpoti accused the Senate President of is true, as I was not physically present when the alleged events took place.
However, I can testify that Senator Natasha Akpoti once had an altercation with me on social media over a post where a woman made advances at me and I rejected her and stated that my wife is a beauty queen and is more than enough for me.
Apparently the woman is or was a friend of Senator Akpoti. And after I had scorned her friend’s advances, Senator Akpoti accused me of sexually harassing her at Aso Rock Presidential Villa, during a reception held for the visiting Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, when he visited Nigeria between May 4 and May 7 2014.
Unfortunately for Senator Akpoti, during those dates, I was sent to the United States of America as President Jonathan’s special envoy. I met and was photographed with multiple U.S. officials, including State Department officials, in Washington, D.C.
I then published a First Class British Airways ticket and my passport (which was a different class of passport from the regular Nigerian passport and requires a special kind of stamp), proving that I was not in Nigeria on the dates Senator Akpoti alleged I sexually harassed her.
After I published that evidence, Miss Natasha Akpoti, as she then was, deleted every trace of her allegations against me and the video she had made insulting me, my wife and my newborn daughter.
As I was pondering the next steps to take, a very influential and respectable man from my ethnic nationality, reached out to a prominent Christian clergyman, who mediated between him and I. The gentleman greeted me in my mother tongue, Itsekiri, and was most gentlemanly and expressed regrets over the incident, and I was prevailed on by the clergyman to reach an out-of-court settlement.
Thereafter, I dropped the matter since my name had been cleared, and the out-of-court settlement was adequate.
That is the extent of my encounter with Senator Natasha Akpoti. I hope the media can now leave me alone, as I am reluctant to grant any interviews or get entangled in this matter, seeing as I have the highest respect for the man who reached out to me to settle the matter.
As for the Senate, I have the highest respect and confidence in that institution and its leadership and believe that the right thing to do would be to institute a Senate investigation by the appropriate committee to determine the veracity of the present allegations.
Reno Omokri
March 1, 2025.
