Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan may have bitten more than she can chew. The distinguished Senator seems to have played into the hands of her political detractors. They are set to nail her. They want to show her that there is more to politics in this clime than a loaded pocket and spell binding beauty. But we must give it to the lady, given that she does not shy away from battles. The story of accusing the Senate President of sexual harassment has long gone viral. She brought the matter to light when her seat in the chamber was changed, and she felt it was part of a continued attempt to push her to the back burner, where her voice cannot be heard.
The Senator representing Kogi Central zone, one of the four women in that arm of the legislative chambers, is at the middle of another battle. Given her antecedents, and her bold strive to be the Governor of Kogi State, a move the immediate past governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, resisted successfully, Natasha is not new to political battles. But she seems to have taken the fight to the national arena.
The Senate has dropped a sledge hammer of sorts on her through a six-month suspension. But the lady is adamant. The Senate President, who is also no neophyte to political battles, is coming at her with ferocity. First, it has been said that the Kogi Central Senator received five hundred million naira for constituency project, a claim the Senator has denied. Hardly had she lifted her pen from signing the denial press statement than moves to recall her from the hallowed chambers started. In an unprecedented move, 250,000 people have singed the withdrawal petition in an election where less than sixty thousand people voted. Natasha has come face-to-face with the crudity of Nigerian politics.
Her initial petition against the Senate president was thrown out on account of procedural error and a six-month suspension was slammed on her. The senate has demanded an apology from her before the ban will be lifted. But she now faces a greater fight from home where her political foes want her recalled. She has unwittingly played into the hands of the of detractors in Kogi State. They have consistently blocked her gubernatorial ambition. Now she has got to the senate through a Supreme Court ruling that gave her victory over the All Progressive Congress candidate declared as winner by Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC). They party and her detractors have swung into action. The Kogi born woman, whose mother is said to be from Ukraine, is battling on all fronts.
She has also taken the battle to the Western media, a situation that may harden the Senate’s resolve to keep her away from their midst. She has amended her error in the first petition and presented a fresh one. The new one has been passed to the Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee of the Senate which has begun to investigate the matter. Tensions escalated when former minister, Oby Ezekwesili and Senator Nwaebonyi, who stood as witness for the Senate President, engaged in hot exchange of words. The Senator has expressed regrets that the former minister provoked him to use such derogatory words as ‘fool’ and ‘disgrace to womanhood’.
Senator Uduahga seems not to enjoy the support of her colleagues, by this I mean the female senators, given the initial reaction of Senator Ireti Kingibe, who said the Senate President had given Akpoti-Uduaghan ‘the most privilege’. She later pledged her support to investigate the sexual harassment claim but emphasized the need for evidence. Now the matter has a possibility to see the light of the day, the onus is on Natasha to present credible evidence. A former aide to former President, Goodluck Jonathan has said Natasha may not be saying the truth going be her antecedents because she had also accused him of sexual harassment in the past but his evidence that he was not in the country at the time caused the allegation to become still born such that Natasha paid huge sums in compensation for near defamation of character. Some people have also said that the Senate President may not be entirely exonerated especially because he sat in judgment over his own matter the day Natasha was suspended from the hallowed chambers. The general feeling is that he ought to have stepped down and allowed his deputy to preside.
The matter has gone beyond that as all eyes would be on the courts and the Senate Committee of ethics and privileges which is why any comment on the matter, at this point, must be rather cautions. This is a typical case of the judiciary being the last hope, not exclusively for the common man, but also for the high and the mighty. It has been on the public domain that Natasha should not be hushed down because that would amount to tacit intimidation for other women who may now find their voice to speak up when men want to take advantage of them.
Natasha is now fighting on all fronts. The battle is multi-faceted for a suspended Senator for whom signatories have appended their names for her to be recalled. People who are said to be linked with the All Progressive Congress have geared up to nail the Senator.
She had to defy an order from the Kogi State government to hold a home-coming rally of sorts in her place. She is taking the battles as they come. Her detractors did not even want her to come home, let alone see her people. The harder they come, the harder she seems to stand. As the gathering of her political foes thickens so does her resolve to take them on. Her insistence not to be silenced may give birth to more litigation. The lady is evidently audacious. Her political foes may have come to terms that the Senator is willing to fight relentlessly.We hope she survives the battles ahead of her.