Former Minister of Works and Housing Adeseye Ogunlewe says Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s beauty is the bane of her political career, asserting that men, including her colleagues at the National Assembly, will hardly be able to take their eyes off of her.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, in a public outburst on February 28, alleged that Senate President Godswill Akpabio asked her to have extramarital affairs with him, a statement he vehemently denied.

The matter escalated into a six-month suspension for Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan last Thursday, when the Senate Committee on Ethics chair, Neda Imasuen, said her conduct brought disrepute to the House.

Speaking on Arise TV Monday morning, Mr Ogunlewe insisted the female lawmaker’s beauty was the cause of her problems, suggesting she is too ravishing not to attract attention from her male-dominated colleagues.

“The beauty of distinguished Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is a problem to her,” Mr Ogunlewe said in a matter-of-fact tone on live television Monday morning.

“You know men, when somebody who is pretty passes by you, your attitude will change. You can smile, you can wink, but you may not talk to her,” Mr Ogunlewe continued as he defended his assertion.
“But her beauty is a problem, there’s no doubt about that,” the former minister insisted.

Reminded by the show anchors that legislators were to make laws and not determine who was beautiful or otherwise, Mr Ogunlewe said, “There is no way a man will not look at that woman” when she passes.

“It is a natural thing for a man to look at beautiful women. How can you be a man and a beautiful woman is passing, and you close your eyes?” the former minister queried.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension has continued to generate a flurry of mixed reactions, with many netizens rooting for her and a reversal of her suspension.

In the same vein, some women groups labelled the female lawmaker a blackmailer and claimed she was on a mission to destroy Mr Akpabio’s political career.

Edo Senator Neda Imasuen, the chair of the Senate Committee on Ethics, was found to have been stripped of his law licence by the New York Supreme Court over allegations of fraud and misconduct.

Instead of clearing his name, Mr Imasuen fled to Nigeria in 2010. The report by Peoples Gazette drew widespread criticism of Mr Imasuen, as many said he lacked the moral standing to chair such a committee.