Abuja — A lawmaker in Nigeria has been suspended from her office after she complained of sexual harassment by the senate president, sparking protests and condemnation from feminist groups. Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan accused the legislative body’s president, Godswill Akpabio, of making unwanted advances toward her in an interview with Nigerian media last week and filed a petition against him.
She was then suspended for six months, a move that was justified over an earlier argument that erupted in the senate chambers about a change in her seating arrangement.
Separately, the sexual harassment petition was rejected on procedural grounds.
“My unjust suspension from the Nigerian Senate invalidates the principles of natural justice, fairness and equity,” 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 duly elected position to serve my constituents and country to the best of my ability till 2027 … and beyond.”
The suspension on Thursday came just days before International Women’s Day, celebrated each year on March 8.
Detailing the alleged sexual harassment, Akpoti Uduaghan said the senate president — who denies the accusations — repeatedly blocked a motion she tried to advance in the chamber and then tied its advancement to demands for sexual favors. Speaking to broadcaster Arise TV, the senator said she was told by Akpabio that the motion could go through if she “took care” of him.
“He then said… ‘You can enjoy a whole lot if you take care of me and make me happy,'” she said.
The change in seating, which sparked a row in the chambers, “was a trap, a set-up,” by Akpabio, who ordered the change, Akpoti Uduaghan said.
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“I have been dehumanized, I have been maligned… the seat change was just the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she said.
Protesters and counter-protesters took to the streets of the capital Abuja on Thursday over the issue, with one group calling on her to apologize. Those who have come to the senator’s defense say the row has highlighted long-standing women’s rights issues in the socially conservative west African country.
Mabel Adinya Ade, the founder of a women’s rights group, said the suspension had “exposed the deeply entrenched gender-based violence (GBV) and the systemic marginalization of women in Nigerian politics.”
Calling the suspension a “stunning display of patriarchal impunity”, Ade, in an article published Thursday in Law and Society magazine, said “the message is chilling: speak out, and you will be punished.”
“By stifling women’s leadership, Nigeria is sabotaging its own progress,” she argued.
Of the Nigerian Senate’s 109 members, only four are women.
