I Don’t Know Where Natasha’ll Run To Next…But Her Actions May Make Male Politicians Shun Female Candidates –Akpabio

By Adesuwa Tsan

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has raised concerns that the actions of suspended Kogi State lawmaker, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, may have a negative impact on female politicians as a lot of men may be scared of appointing or selecting female as deputies.

Speaking at plenary yesterday in response to the vote of confidence passed in him by his colleagues, Akpabio expressed disappointment over Akpoti-Uduaghan’s actions, accusing her of attempting to embarrass Nigeria on the international scene by distorting facts on multiple platforms, including the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) summit in New York.

“You can imagine if somebody like Kamala (Harris), the immediate past vice president of the United States, went on CNN to say that President Joe Biden sexually assaulted her by shaking her hand or by holding her hand to show her the office of the president.

“That automatically means that nobody will pick another woman as vice president. But, I have four daughters, so I want to plead with politicians to still give my four children a chance. Do not take the action of one person to punish others.

“My religion and the Bible forbid that the sins of the father will no longer be visited on the children. So, please, we still have absolute confidence in our female folks.

“In this 10th Assembly of the Senate, we have only four women and the four of them are all committee chairmen, intentionally, in order to give a voice to women in the parliament.

“So, I thank you for this vote of confidence. I will not take it for granted and I also have confidence in you and your ability to continue to contribute your quota towards nation building.”

It was the second time the senators would be expressing confidence in his leadership in the past two weeks.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended on March 6 for gross misconduct and failure to adhere to the standing orders of the Senate.

However, the senator alleged that she was under persecution over her claims of sexual harassment. She had petitioned the same Senate over the allegation and recently presented her case at the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) summit in New York.”

He thanked his colleagues for their continued support.

“I needed to let you know that I deeply, deeply appreciate the vote of confidence in my leadership. And this is coming almost twice in the last two weeks. It’s important for the public to know that my colleagues are together, the Senate is one, and bonded together by destiny and by God Almighty through elections. The 10th Senate is together, united in purpose.

“It’s also important for the public to know that whatever decision we arrive at here is unanimous and I recall the last decision we took, which concerned one of our sisters, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. I’m also aware that when she left the chambers, she went to Brekete Radio and Arise Television, where she distorted the facts.

“I’m aware further that she has now externalised the matter by attempting to embarrass the Federal Republic of Nigeria by going to give a narrative at the IPU, a UN event, totally different from what occurred in the Senate.

“But, I want to thank Khafilat Ogbara, who had to give a press conference in New York to caution the international press not to vilify Nigeria, but to note that the facts presented by her were totally out of tune with what occurred in the Nigerian parliament and that we have our own internal mechanisms of resolving issues in Nigeria.

“Outside this parliament, we also have the judiciary, which she is even standing before, so I don’t know why she would… even here she has brought a petition and she has not allowed us to even look into it. She went to court and then she has not allowed the court to look into it, she has gone to the international community and she may not even allow the international community to look into it. She might decide to run to…I don’t know where. I don’t want to be misquoted.

“But, the reality is that we remain resolute. We are law abiding. We operate through the rules of the Senate, which is an extension of the powers and privileges given to us by the grund norm, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We are still open to making sure that we remain in peace. We left room for her to recognise that what she’s doing may even frighten a lot of men in future from even appointing or selecting female deputy governors.”

Speaking during plenary, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, raised a point of order, highlighting how the ongoing debate over Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension had become a distraction. He urged the public to understand that it is the senate’s internal processes and the legislative rules that guide its operations.

“Until the day we announced on this floor that we are referring a petition brought by Yemi Adaramodu with respect to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s flagrant disobedience to the rules and regulations of this Senate, none of us was ever told of any sexual harassment,” Bamidele stated.

He clarified that the suspension based on the recommendations of the report submitted by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions was unrelated to sexual harassment allegations. Bamidele also explained that Akpabio did not act as a judge in his own case during the consideration of the report as alleged, but played a strictly procedural role as presiding officer of the Senate.

“Some of the critics who have said this Senate allowed Akpabio to be a judge in his own case and to decide over his own matter need to be told, with all due responsibility and respect, that the issue before us had to do with the motion that was referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions,” he explained.

He added: “It is not the rule of men, it is the rule of law. It is not about some men trying to gang up against a woman or anybody; it is about ensuring that our rules are respected. That is the only way we can guarantee peace, law and order.”

Responding to criticisms regarding the Senate’s authority to suspend a member, he said: “Section 60 of the Nigerian Constitution confers on this Parliament the constitutional rights to regulate its own procedure. And Section 1(B) of our rules also makes it clear that constitutional authority granted to us by Section 60, gives us the right to regulate our procedure. Suspension, as far as we are concerned, is the only authority to the kind of anarchy that the nation witnessed in the past.”

(The Sun, excluding headline)