Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is suspended for six months after she makes an accusation in opposition to Senate President Akpabio.
The Nigerian Senate has suspended a feminine senator after she accused its presiding officer of sexual harassment.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was barred from workplace from Thursday and could have her allowances and safety withdrawn for six months after she made an accusation in opposition to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who denied the claims in opposition to him.
On Wednesday, the Senate ethics committee rejected Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition concerning the alleged harassment, citing procedural rule violations. Her subsequent suspension was justified over an earlier argument that erupted within the Senate a few change in her seating association.
In a TV interview on February 28, Akpoti-Uduaghan – one in all solely 4 ladies within the 109-seat chamber – alleged that Akpabio made undesirable sexual advances in direction of her in 2023.
“This injustice won’t be sustained,” she stated on Thursday after she was prevented from talking within the Senate and escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms.
Akpabio has publicly denied any wrongdoing. “Because the twentieth of February, I’ve been inundated with cellphone calls from varied Nigerians. I want to state that at no time did I sexually harass Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan,” he stated, talking at the beginning of a plenary session on Wednesday.
*Letter to the Nigerian Senate*
The Petition of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Should Be Independently Investigated and Brazenly Mentioned in a Public Listening to that the Accused Does Not Preside.
Two Calls for:
1. Swiftly Appoint an Unbiased Investigator on the Petition of… pic.twitter.com/rdUkDoR7uU
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) March 6, 2025
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Nigeria’s north-central Kogi Central district, shared an announcement on her Fb web page in response to the suspension.
“In opposition to the tradition of silence, intimidation and victim-shaming; my unjust suspension from the Nigerian Senate invalidates the ideas of pure justice, equity and fairness,” she stated.
“The unlawful suspension doesn’t withdraw my legitimacy as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I’ll proceed to make use of my duly elected place to serve my constituents and nation to the very best of my capacity until 2027 and past.”
Ethics committee ‘not match for goal’?
Senate Majority Chief Opeyemi Bamidele stated Akpoti-Uduaghan ought to use her suspension to “study the foundations of the Senate”.
“I requested her what she’s going to acquire if she tries to drag the Senate president down,” Bamidele stated throughout the consideration of the petition on the Senate flooring.
Critics like Chioma Agwuegbo, government director of the ladies’s rights organisation TechHerNG, condemned the ethics committee’s dealing with of the case, alleging bias.
“The ethics committee to which her petition was referred has proven that it isn’t match for goal,” Agwuegbo stated.
Many distinguished Nigerian figures and teams have known as for a clear investigation. Many ladies additionally expressed their anger over the expulsion on social media with some calling it “oppression”.
Two teams of protesters gathered on the Nationwide Meeting floor on Wednesday within the capital, Abuja, one in help of Akpabio and the opposite for Akpoti-Uduaghan, chanting ”Akpabio should go.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan has filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Senate president, looking for 100 billion naira ($64,000) in damages.
Whereas uncommon in Nigeria’s Nationwide Meeting, this isn’t the primary time a case involving sexual harassment or assault has emerged. Senator Dino Melaye was accused of threatening to sexually assault Senator Remi Tinubu, the nation’s present first woman, however was by no means charged.
