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Nigeria’s Senate moved decisively to dispel widespread assertions that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, faced suspension due to her allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, seeking to quell a burgeoning tide of misconstrued narratives.
Instead, the upper chamber elucidated that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month exclusion stemmed from her brazen defiance of Sections 6.1 and 6.2 of the Senate Standing Orders 2023 (As Amended), compounded by conduct deemed unbecoming of the chamber’s decorum during its sessions—an infraction far removed from the rumored scandal.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, in a detailed three-page exposition released that day, underscored this distinction, decrying what he termed a calculated barrage of distortions peddled by select media outlets, intent on skewing public perception of the legislative body’s actions.
This clarification followed the findings of the Senate’s Committee on Ethics and Privileges, which pinpointed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s persistent disregard for seating protocols and procedural norms during plenary gatherings as the basis for her suspension—a verdict that underscored the chamber’s commitment to its internal discipline.
The Senate upheld her suspension with a proviso that if Akpoti-Uduaghan “submits a written apology, the leadership of the chamber may consider lifting the suspension before the six-month period expires.”
Rather than submitting to the authority of the Senate, Akpoti-Uduaghan, the statement said, had been misinforming the unsuspecting public that she was suspended because she accused the Senate President of sexual harassment.
Read also: Why Natasha Made ‘Useless Allegations’ Against Me – Akpabio
In a statement he released on Saturday, however, Bamidele clarified that the disciplinary action against Akpoti-Uduaghan was unequivocally a response to her repeated violations of legislative decorum.
The statement further clarified that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition on sexual harassment failed to meet the clear and established procedural requirements for submitting petitions to the Senate.
“This is completely untrue, misleading, and a calculated attempt to distort the facts. If Akpoti-Uduaghan had strictly followed our guiding principles, the Senate would have treated her petition based on merit in line with its practice. But she never obeyed the established practices of the institution where she was serving.”
Specifically, the statement revealed that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension was “a decision of the Committee of the Whole Senate, following the submission of a report by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges.”
The statement noted that the report found Akpoti-Uduaghan guilty of violating Sections 6.1 and 6.2 of the Senate Standing Orders 2023 (As Amended) and recommended her immediate suspension.
