Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is suspended for six months after she makes an accusation towards 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Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was barred from workplace from Thursday and could have her allowances and safety withdrawn for six months after she made an accusation towards Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who denied the claims towards him.
On Wednesday, the Senate ethics committee rejected Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition in regards to 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 – considered one of solely 4 girls within the 109-seat chamber – alleged that Akpabio made undesirable sexual advances in direction of her in 2023.
“This injustice is not going to 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. “For the reason that twentieth of February, I’ve been inundated with cellphone calls from varied Nigerians. I wish to state that at no time did I sexually harass Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan,” he stated, talking firstly of a plenary session on Wednesday.
*Letter to the Nigerian Senate*
The Petition of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Should Be Independently Investigated and Overtly Mentioned in a Public Listening to that the Accused Does Not Preside.
Two Calls for:
1. Swiftly Appoint an Impartial 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 Facebook 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 rules 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 most effective of my means 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 is going to achieve if she tries to drag the Senate president down,” Bamidele stated through the consideration of the petition on the Senate ground.
Critics like Chioma Agwuegbo, govt 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’s not 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 towards 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 girl, however was by no means charged.
