Our reporter/ Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan on Tuesday took her sexual harassment allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and her suspension from the Red Chamber to the UN Inter-Parliamentary Union.
The Senate suspended the lawmaker for violation of the Senate’s rules days after she submitted a petition against Akpabio for sexual assault and other accusations, claims the Senate President has strongly denied.
But at the Women in Parliament session held at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting (IPU) at the United Nations in New York, Senator Natasha is seeking justice and the intervention of global democratic institutions.
The lawmaker is asking for justice over what she described as injustice meted out to her. Senator Natasha described her suspension from the Senate as “illegal”.
“I was suspended illegally because I submitted a petition for sexual harassment against the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio. I thought that by submitting the petition, he would recuse himself and both of us would submit ourselves to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petition for a fair, transparent investigation. But unfortunately, I was silenced and I was suspended,” she told the gathering.
“That means I’m here illegally, but I have no other place to go but to come here and speak to you because this is a bigger picture. This is a bigger picture. It depicts the crisis of women’s political representation. My suspension is not just about me. It’s about the systemic exclusion of women from political leadership in Nigeria,” the Kogi lawmaker added.
After her speech, she expressed worry about her security. She claimed there are indications that she may be held against her will in New York for speaking up on the issue at the global event by “the powers that be” from Nigeria.
Last week, the Senate suspended the lawmaker in a move that has continued to generate debates across the country.
She had initially submitted a petition to the Senate accusing Akpabio of sexual harassment. But the lawmakers threw it out before suspending her even after submitting another petition.
Senator Natasha vowed to continue the “injustice” In the wake of the suspension, Akpabio denied her accusations and maintained he has never assaulted women.
Her altercation with the Senate president started after her seat was changed during plenary, a move she refused.
That is not the first time both individuals had issues. In July 2024, Akpabio had while trying to correct her for misconduct told her to follow the rules and that the Senate is not a nightclub where anybody can talk anyhow. The Akwa Ibom lawmaker, however, later apologised for the comment.
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