Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has come down harder on the Nigerian Senate over accusations of double standards in administering disciplinary actions.
Stating unequivocally, Senator Natasha noted several instances where her male colleagues engaged in physical fights, threw items, and verbally attacked one another without facing the same consequences she faced.
“Letโs talk about the gross misconduct that has happened in the Nigerian chambers. I was only told to move, and I refused to move my seat because I deserved to be notified.
โI deserve to be given a chance to explain why I should retain my seat. But you see, I have seen in those chambers where men fight, where senators throw items at each other, curse each other, shout at each other, you know? But they were not suspended. Why? Because they are men?” she questioned.
Commenting on the Senate’s double standard, Natasha challenged them to specify the misconduct that warranted her unlawful suspension, asserting that the actions against her were politically instigated to clip her wings.
“Yes, they did mention that I was suspended on account of gross misconduct. But can they please provide exactly what the gross misconduct is that amounts to a six-month suspension the day after I submitted a petition? I was suspended because of that petition, not because of any gross misconduct,” she stated.
The People’s Insight recalls that Natasha, after she brazenly alleged that the president of the Senate had sexually harassed her, submitted the same petition to the House for a fair hearing.
The suspended Senator, Natasha, revealed that the Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio, became enraged following her refusal to yield to his alleged advances. To that effect, he had vowed to frustrate her in the discharge of her senatorial duties to the people of Kogi Central, for whom she was democratically elected.
“I experienced sexual harassment over the past year at the hands of the Senate President. This harassment, because I refused to yield to his demands, turned into malice, whereby my rights and privileges as a senator were deprived. I found the courage to speak up,” she explained.
Speaking further, Natasha reiterated how the President of the Senate had removed her from the position she occupied as the chairperson of the Local Content Committee and refused to acknowledge her whenever she signaled to be noticed during Senate plenaries.
“Things got difficult for me. I was always complaining. I have this motion to pass, but he’s not letting me. My husband will actually walk to him because they are friends. My wife has a very important bill; her constituency needs this,โ she said.
โWhy don’t you give her a chance to speak? And he’ll tell me, ‘OK, next time, next time.’ So he deliberately kept denying me this.”
Natasha opened up about further acts of harassment by the Senate President that were shrouded in secrecy. One such allegation was that Akpabio tied her participation in Senate activities to personal pleasure.
“And each time I walk to him alone, he’ll tell me, ‘You know what? Right here, I’m the chief presiding officer of the National Assembly. So you have to please me and make me happy to get these privileges.’ And that happened several times. Because I refused, it developed,” she recounted.
The event that broke the camel’s back was the seat change that happened without due notification.
“Yes, the breaking point was moving me from that seat. Silently, I have had to endure a whole…” she stated before being interrupted.
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