Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a Nigerian senator representing the West African nation’s Kogi Central Senatorial District, has been handed a six-month suspension by her fellow lawmakers after she accused the senate president of sexual harassment.
Per BBC, Akpoti-Uduaghan brought the sexual harassment allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio in a petition that she submitted. She also opened up about the alleged sexual harassment during an interview on February 28.
The ethics committee tabled Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension after her petition was thrown away for procedural reasons. The committee claimed that her actions had tainted the image of the country’s upper chamber.
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And though some senators called for her suspension to be reduced to three months, most of their colleagues gave the green light for the six-month suspension the ethics committee tabled.
Responding to her suspension, Akpoti-Uduaghan said the verdict was “an injustice that will not be sustained,” adding that she won’t stop her “pursuit for justice.” Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment allegations also caught the attention of several prominent people and groups who asked for an open probe into the incident, BBC reported.
Two opposing groups went to the assembly’s premises in the capital Abuja on Wednesday to show their support for Akpoti-Uduaghan and Akpabio. The group in support of Akpoti-Uduaghan was heard shouting ”Akpabio must go.”
“We’ve been following events at the Assembly keenly and hoping that investigation into Natasha’s allegations would follow,” Women’s rights activist Hadiza Ado told the news outlet. “All we can say is that today is a sad day for Nigerian women fighting for emancipation. Out of 109 senators, only four are women and one is now suspended.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan cannot enter the National Assembly grounds until her suspension expires. Her office will also be locked.
“I do not agree with the suspension of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. The suspension was an aberration by a Senate that ought to know better. Order 67(4) of the Senate Rules states that a senator can only be suspended for a period not exceeding 14 days. This provision, which is unconstitutional, was breached by the same Senate,” Kunle Edun, who is a lawyer, told Vanguard.
“The fact that the matter is in court makes it sub judice. The Ethics Committee cannot, on one hand, admit that the subject matter of her petition is sub judice and then, on the other hand, contradict that position by suspending her in relation to the same matter or a similar matter that is before the court.”
Edun continued: “The contention that the court lacks the power to interfere in legislative affairs due to the principle of separation of powers does not justify the Senate’s decision to disregard an interim court order.
“All the reasons the Senate may have had for disobeying the court order should have been presented in court as a basis to set aside the interim injunction. It is lawless for a legislature to disobey a court order, whether they consider it valid or not.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan rightly refused to appear before the Ethics Committee in light of the court’s order. The Senate was wrong to proceed with the hearing despite the court order. This was sheer legislative rascality.”
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