By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, led by Senator Neda Imasuen, yesterday refused to hear a petition on sexual harassment levelled against President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
The petition was written by Mr Zubairu Yakubu, from Kogi Central Senatorial District.
Yakubu appeared before the Committee in company with a former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, who appeared as a witness and his lawyer, Abiola Akiyode.
The Committee ruled that it could not consider the petition because Unoma Akpabio, the wife of the Senate president, had filed a pending case against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Imasuen, who cited the Senate rules, noted that the Red Chamber’sChamber rejected petitions on any matter pending before the Court.
*Senator Nwebonyi calls Ezekwesili disgrace to womanhood after ex-minister shut him down
Meanwhile, shortly before the panel adjourned indefinitely, Ezekwesili and Senator Peter Onyeka Nwebonyi were engaged in a war of words.
Nwebonyi, a panel member representing Ebonyi North Central, had described the former Minister in derogatory terms.
The verbal war started when Ekwesili accused the panel of bias, and Nwebonyi queried her for using the word.
Ezekwesili asked the Senator to shut up, and he became aggressive, demanding to know why she should talk to a Senator like that.
During the altercation, Nwebonyi told Ezekwesili, “Why should you talk to a Senator like that? You can never be a Senator. You are an insult to womanhood.”
Ezekwesili thereafter remained calm as the Senator heaped abusive words on her.
Speaking with journalists after the Senate Committee adjourned indefinitely, Ezekwesili accused the Senate of violating the Nigerian Constitution.
She maintained that the Senate Rule cited was not superior to the Constitution.
She said, “The Nigerian Senate keeps telling citizens they are subject to Senate rules, even when those rules violate the Constitution. This is unacceptable in a democracy.”
She further argued that the embattled Kogi Central lawmaker was denied a fair hearing, which clearly breached the Constitution’s provisions.
“The Senate placed its own rules above the laws of the land. Now, with this petitioner, they have done the same thing—using procedural loopholes to avoid addressing critical issues.”
The former Education Minister insisted that the Senate Committee has shown bias and called for an independent panel to review Senate Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition.
She said, “If a petitioner says they do not believe the Senate committee will give them a fair hearing due to clear bias, it is only just that an independent body reviews the matter.”
She warned that the Senate’s actions could set a dangerous precedent where internal rules override the Constitution.
Ekwesili said, “The Senate must respect the Constitution. Otherwise, we risk turning our democracy into a system where powerful individuals manipulate processes to silence opposition and suppress justice.”
To further the argument of bias, the petitioner cited previous remarks attributed to the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Imasuen, in which he dismissed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition as dead on arrival at the Committee sitting.
He said, “How can the Chairman serve as a judge in a case where he has already publicly taken a position? What needs us to present our case when a verdict has been given before hearing us?”
Yakubu expressed disappointment over the Committee’s objection to his request that the Kogi Central senator, who the Senate axed for six months, be allowed to testify before the panel as a principal witness.
He noted that Akpoti-Uduaghan was in custody of crucial documentary evidence to support her claims, but she was barred from entering the National Assembly to testify.
He said, “In my petition, I clearly stated that my witness would present her evidence personally. But she was not allowed into the premises. How can I proceed with my case if my key witness is denied access?”
The petitioner’s legal adviser, Dr Abiola Akinyode, also raised concerns about inconsistencies in the Senate’s handling of petitions.
“There is nothing in Yakubu’s petition that was not in Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s original petition. If the Senate dismissed her petition as ‘dead on arrival,’ then logically, Yakubu’s should also be dismissed.
“The Senate seems to operate under its own rules, separate from the Constitution. That is why they can suspend a senator for six months without following due process.”
She also faulted the Committee’s defence that it could not sit on judgment in a subsisting case before a court of competent jurisdiction.
She said, “If they knew the case was in court, they should have simply written to the petitioner stating they could not entertain it. Instead, they invited him, only to dismiss the petition because it was already in court.”
