‘It’s Injustice’ – Natasha Cries Out After Senate’s Suspension
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has faulted her suspension for six months by the Senate.
Her salaries and allowances for the period were also suspended and her security details withdrawn.
Also, she will not be allowed access to the premises of the National Assembly while the suspension lasts.
Her suspension followed the adoption of a report of the Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions which recommended the punitive measures.
The report was read at plenary by the chairman of the Ethics Committee, Senator Neda Imasuen and was unanimously passed after an extensive debate.
Senator Natasha, who sat through the entire duration of the plenary session was not allowed to make contributions.
Her attempts to make comments shortly after her suspension was rebuffed by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio who presided.
“This is injustice,” she blurted out as she stormed out of the Senate chamber.
Meanwhile, a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has berated the Senate for dismissing the petition filed by the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan had engaged in a heated debate on the floor of the upper legislative chamber over a change in seating arrangements.
Days later, during an interview on Arise News, Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that her troubles in the Senate began after she rejected sexual advances from Akpabio.
She submitted a sexual harassment petition against Akpabio on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
However, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions rejected the petition, citing breaches of due process and Senate rules.
In a post on her X page on Thursday, Ezekwesili said the Senate would be doing itself a disservice if it treated the allegation lightly.
She added that the petition must be openly discussed in a public hearing that the accused does not preside over.
“Our National Assembly, which comprises the Senate and House of Representatives, belongs to the Nigerian people and not to politicians of any stripe or status,” Ezekwesili said.
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“This is why the National Assembly is called a public institution. No individual or group can capture a public institution and use it for personal benefit or advantage.
“Whenever a situation like the one involving Senators Natasha Akpoti and Akpabio arises, lawmakers must understand that the Nigerian public wants transparency and full disclosure.
“Dismissing a serious accusation against the Senate President, as the senators irresponsibly did yesterday, is a democratic aberration. It cannot stand. Never.
“What happened yesterday in the Senate chamber, where a Senate President presided over a grave matter involving him, was farcical and a blot on our democracy.
“It is in the public interest that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition be urgently given the seriousness it deserves to uphold the institutional integrity of our Senate.”
‘It’s Injustice’ – Natasha Cries Out After Senate’s Suspension is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
