Nigeria Suspends Senator For Complaining About Sexual Harassment
“The moment you speak out on sexual harassment, you’re guilty.” Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan said.
Nigeria has suspended woman senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for six months after she said the senate’s president sexually harassed her.
45-year-old Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only four women senators in Nigeria’s 109-seat Senate, first spoke out against Senate President Godswill Akpabio in a TV interview on Feb. 28.
She said in December 2023, when she and her husband visited Akpabio’s home, Akpabio squeezed her hand and told her, “I will make an opportunity for us to come here and have a good moment,” according to The New York Times.
She said Akpabio later invited her to a hotel and told her she can “enjoy a lot of benefits” if she makes him happy while they were in the senate building.
Akpoti-Uduaghan said she kept rejecting Akpabio’s advances but did not talk about them or file a legal complaint.
“The moment you speak out on sexual harassment, you’re guilty,” she said.
In February, 2024, she said her seat was moved to a remote corner of the senate without her consent or explanation.
She then came forward in the TV interview and filed a complaint.
Akpabio has denied the allegations, stating in a session that he "never sexually harassed" Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The senate's ethics committee then dismissed Akpoti-Uduaghan's complaint, saying she had violated of rules as no senator can present a complaint signed by themselves directly to the Senate, according to Al Jazeera.
The committee also said it suspended her over her "unruly and disruptive" conduct over having her seat moved.
The committee then, on March 6, suspended and barred Akpoti-Uduaghan from office and stripped her of her allowances and security privileges for six months.
Akpoti-Uduaghan condemned the decision, saying “this injustice will not be sustained.”
“Against the culture of silence, intimidation, and victim-shaming, my unjust suspension invalidates the principles of natural justice, fairness, and equity,” she wrote in a statement posted on her social media.
The suspension has sparked criticism from women's rights advocates, who say the ethics committee acted with bias.
This is not the first time Nigeria’s Senate has faced controversy over sexual harassment allegations.
In a previous case, Senator Dino Melaye was accused of threatening to assault Senator Remi Tinubu, now the country’s first lady, but was never charged.
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