The Senate has claimed its member representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was not handed a six-month suspension for accusing the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of sexual harassment.
The upper chamber has now clarified that Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended specifically due to her flagrant disobedience to Sections 6.1 and 6.2 of the Senate Standing Orders 2023 (As Amended) and her unparliamentary behaviour during its plenaries and proceedings.
Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, made these clarifications in a three-page statement released on Saturday amid what he described as the deliberate misinformation and false narratives being circulated by certain media organisations.
Contingent on the report of its Committee on Ethics and Privileges, the Senate had suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months over alleged misconduct and refusal to comply with its sitting arrangement during the plenary.
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.
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.
The statement reads in part: “It has come to the attention of the Senate that some media reports are attempting to falsely suggest that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension was due to allegations of sexual harassment.
“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.
