Nigerian Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan suspends after filing sexual harassment claims to Senate president

Abuja – A Nigerian MP was suspended after the Senate president complained about sexual harassment, sparking protests and condemnation from feminist groups. Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan accused Legislature President Godswill Akpabio of making unnecessary progress to her and petitioned him in an interview with Nigerian media last week.

She was then suspended for six months, a move that justified, an early debate that erupted in the Senate Assembly about changes in her seat arrangements.

In addition, the sexual harassment petition was rejected on procedural grounds.

“I unjustly suspend the Nigerian Senate to invalidate the principles of natural justice, fairness and fairness,” Akpoti Uduaghan said in a statement posted on social media. “The illegal suspension does not withdraw my legitimacy as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I will continue to use my formally elected position to serve my voters and state until 2027…and beyond.”

Thursday’s suspension is a few days before International Women’s Day, celebrated every year on March 8.

Akpoti Uduaghan detailed the alleged sexual harassment, saying the Senate President (denied the charges) repeatedly blocked her motion to try to advance in the chamber and then tied its progress to the demands for sex. Speaking to the radio and television station, the senator said Akpabio told her that the motion would pass if she “careed” him.

She said: “He then said…’If you take care of me and make me happy, you can enjoy a lot.’

Akpoti Uduaghan said the seats triggered a row of changes in Chambers, “a trap, a setting,” Akpabio ordered changes.

“I’ve been humanized and I’m very upset… The shift in the seats is just a straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

Protesters and counter-protesters took to the streets of the capital Abuja on Thursday on Thursday, with one group calling on her to apologize. Those who came to the Senate’s defense say the ship highlights long-standing issues of women’s rights Socially conservative West African countries.

Mabel Adinya Ade, founder of Women’s Rights Organisation, said the suspension “exposed deep-rooted gender-based violence (GBV) and the systematic marginalization of women in Nigerian politics.”

In a post published Thursday in the Journal of Law and Society, Ade said the suspension was “the “patriarchy impunity” of suspension, saying: “The message is shocking: speak out loud and you will be punished. ”

“By stifling women’s leadership, Nigeria is undermining its own progress,” she said.

Of the 109 members of the Nigerian Senate, only 4 are women.