The Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months amid the sexual harassment allegation she made against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The suspension, reached during the plenary yesterday, came after a recommendation from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions.
As part of the suspension, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s salary and security details would be withdrawn, and she would be barred from accessing the National Assembly premises.
Her office would also be locked, and her legislative aides would not receive their salaries during this period. The Senate further ruled out reconsidering her suspension until the six-month term ends or she submits a formal apology.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension follows a heated confrontation in the Senate, where she protested the reassignment of her seat by Akpabio. She arrived at a plenary session to find her nameplate removed and her seat reassigned, which she argued was an attempt to silence her.
Her suspension was put to a vote after she was denied the opportunity to speak, with the majority siding with the Ethics Committee’s report.
Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro supported the committee’s recommendation, stating that her actions warranted disciplinary action. He likened the move to “correcting a child,” referencing Nigerian cultural norms.
To appeal the suspension, Akpoti-Uduaghan must submit a written apology to the Senate for allegedly violating its rules.
A heated confrontation unfolded during a Senate plenary session two Thursdays ago when Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan protested the re-assignment of her seat by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The session took an unexpected turn as she arrived to find her seat reassigned, with her nameplate removed.
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, raising her voice in protest, demanded an explanation for what she perceived as an unjustified move.
Following the incident, the matter was referred to the Ethics Committee over her actions during the plenary session.
Consequently, the Senate pushed the matter to the Senator Neda Imasuen-led Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions after the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, mandated the committee to conduct a holistic investigation and report back in two weeks.
The Senate’s resolution followed the consideration and adoption of a report presented by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), on news publications and reports regarding the incident.
In his presentation, Adaramodu informed the Senate that the uproar during the plenary session the previous Thursday—when Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan openly challenged the Senate President over the reassignment of her seat—had severely damaged the Senate’s image.
However, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu moved for the amendment of the recommendation that sought to withold the salaries and allowances of the staff Akpoti-Uduaghan on the grounds of empathy.
Kalu said, “We cannot punish the aides of Senator Natasha for an offence they did not commit, they are staff of the National Assembly and they have no other farm or means of livelihood apart from the salaries they earn from the Senate and at such it will be wrong for us as a Senate to deny them and their families their salaries.
“I move that we should please amend that recommendation and allow them to earn their salaries”
The Senate agreed with Kalu’s suggestion and saved the Kogi Senator’s aides for losing their salaries for six months.
After a lengthy debate on the report by Senators, all the recommendations were adopted by the Senators through a voice vote with a slight amendment to the 6th recommendation, allowing Senator Natasha’s aides to receive their salaries and allowances in order not to suffer unduly.
Attempts made by former president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan to stop red chamber from withdrawing the security aides of the suspended senator failed as the Senate President rejected it.
After the adoption of the report, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan briefly interrupted the proceedings.
She said, “This injustice against me will not be sustained. I will fight against it.
She was thereafter escorted out of the chamber by the Serjeant-At-Arms personnel in the chamber.
She quickly hastened to her car, rebuffed press interview as she quickly entered the black SUV already waiting for her and sped off.
Earlier before the suspension, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan resubmitted a sexual harassment petition against Senator Akpabio during plenary, this time on behalf of her constituents, led by one, Zubairu Yakubu.
After confirming there were no legal barriers, Senator Akpabio directed her to formally lay the petition before the Senate.
Her petition was then referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, chaired by Imasuen with a mandate to report back within four weeks.
Meanwhile Senate President Godswill Akpabio has has said he slept in an hotel located within the premises of the Dangote Cement factory in Obajana Kogi State during the wedding of Akpoti-Uduaghan for three days.
Akpabio described Natasha’s husband as his good friend, stressing that his attendance at their wedding signifies his closeness to the family.
He said, “The person we are talking about here is the wife of my very good friend or so I thought.
“ I slept in Dangote cement factory in Obajana, Kogi State on the night of Senator Natasha’s wedding because the Kogi airport lights were in a poor state.”
He said as the Senate President, he has the responsibility to look at the rules of the Senate.
“The rules gives me the power to give ruling on points of order. I’m in the best position to interpret the rules of the senate,” he added.
Similarly, the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, denied threatening Akpoti-Uduaghan during a midnight conversation with her and challenged security agencies to investigate his claims.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s colleague from Kogi West Senatorial District, Senator Sunday Karimi, apologised to Akpabio for backing her for a leadership role.
