Finally, Akpabio and Natasha Saga pitches PANDEF against North

• More on Akpabio and Natasha Saga

Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s brothers in Niger Delta are fighting hard to rescue him. But the North is also fighting for their sister, Senator Natasha Akpoti.

Recall the rift between the two lawmakers came to head last week after Natasha publicly accused Akpabio of intimidating her in the Senate because she had rejected his sexual advances. Since then notable voices across the country, including the North, are calling for impartial investigation.

The apex socio-cultural group in the North, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) had since weighed in.

• Akpabio and Natasha: Natasha threatens to open a can of worms about Akpabio

Through its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. T. A. Mohammad-Baba, ACF had joined the called for investigation. But it also went beyond that to slam the Senate President, describing his leadership in the Senate as “uninspiring”.

However, PANDEF called ACF’s position on the matter “attack on the Southern Nigeria”, while releasing a counter statement. The PANDEF’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Dr. Obiuwevbi Christopher Ominimini, said that North’s call for a probe has hidden political motive.

“It is the turn of Southern Nigeria to produce the president in 2027, having witnessed two consecutive Northern tenures under President Muhammadu Buhari,” the statement read in part.