Suspended lawmaker representing Kogi Central in the Senate, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has alleged that the Nigerian Senate operates like a cult where lawmakers are afraid to express contrary views for fear of retaliation.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Akpoti-Uduaghan asserted that her six-month suspension from the upper chamber for “gross misconduct” was an orchestrated attempt to silence her.
“I am being victimised. My suspension is a means of silencing me,” she said.
The senator also accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment following a heated exchange during plenary last month.
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Detailing an encounter, she recounted an incident at Akpabio’s country home where he allegedly made inappropriate advances toward her in the presence of her husband.
“It was episode after episode, moment after moment. We were at his country home. He was taking me around his house. My husband was walking behind us. He held my hand. He then squeezed my hand in a very suggestive way. We women, we know what it means when a man squeezes our hands in a suggestive way.
“And he went, ‘Now that you’re in the Senate, I’ll make an opportunity for us to come here and have a good moment,’ you know, along that line,” she claimed.
Akpoti-Uduaghan also alleged that Akpabio made inappropriate comments towards her in the Senate chamber, citing an instance when she forgot to wear her wedding ring.
“There was a time when I rushed to work forgetting to wear my ring, there were about five senators there. He said, ‘Oh Natasha, you are not wearing your ring. Is this an invitation to treat?’ You know, statements like this,” she added.
In response, the Senate’s Deputy Chief Whip, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, dismissed her allegations, asserting that Akpabio never made any sexual advances or inappropriate remarks towards Akpoti-Uduaghan.
“Senator Natasha’s legislative activities show this claim is not true,” Nwaebonyi told the BBC, also rejecting the assertion that the Senate was attempting to silence her.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension on March 6 followed her failure to appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, which was probing allegations against her.