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From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
A mild chaos ensued in the Senate on Wednesday as Kogi Central Lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, officially tendered a sexual harassment petition against Senate President Godswill Akpabio on the floor of the upper legislative chamber.
Drama began immediately after Senator Akpoti submitted the petition, immediately after the Senate President denied the allegations in a brief address to his colleagues. Relying on Order 40 of the Senate rules, Akpoti-Uduaghan reminded the Senate that she spoke about the allegations on Arise TV bordering on alleged sexual harassment by Akpabio, and had resolved to table same as a petition before the Senate.
Akpabio disposedly asked Natasha to proceed with the submission of her petition, after which the Senate President adopted and referred it to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges. However, Senator Akpoti’s petition was swiftly countered by some Senators who argued that the Senate lacked jurisdiction to investigate the matter since it was already before a court of competent jurisdiction.
Further faulting her petition based on Section 40, subsection 4, some lawmakers also argued that it is against its rules for a Senator to sign and personally submit a petition which he or she is the subject of. Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, objected to Natasha’s petition, citing violation of Section 40, subsection 7, because the case is in court.
Monguno asked the Senate to reject the petition to avoid “anarchy”. “Pursuant to the constitution, any deviation from their rules is an invitation to anarchy and the Senate must be guided by the provisions of our rules. Our rules say that the Senate should not deliberate on any issue in the court of law and this matter is sub judice before the court and the wife of the Senate has gone to court. The Senate doesn’t have the jurisdiction to entertain this matter. This matter should not be referred to the Public Petitions Committee when our rules say that matters are in court and the Senate does not have the right to entertain the matter according to rule 40,” he said.
With defiant protest to Monguno’s contribution, Akpoti-Uduaghan disapproved the Chief Whip’s point, arguing that he misunderstood the true situation of events. According to Natasha, the issue before the court has nothing to do with sexual harassment but rather cyberbullying, which she filed against the Senate President and his Senior Legislative Aide, Mfon Patrick. She argued, “I beg to differ, this matter is not before the court, the matter before the court is on cyberbullying against the Senate President and his Senior Legislative Aide Mfon Patrick, who accused me of dressing indecently to the Senate.”
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On his part, Kebbi North Senator, Abdullahi Yahaya, urged the Senate to proceed since the petition has already been accepted and adopted by the Senate President. He said, “This matter is already in court from all sides and this issue has already been ruled on looking at Section 27 of our Senate rule book. This matter has already been ruled on and it should be allowed to go through.”
Monguno’s point of order received the support of Senate Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, who also harped on the same points raised by the Senate Chief Whip. Opeyemi urged the Senate to be dispassionate on the issue but rather concentrate on the Senate rules of Order 40.
The Senate Leader conveyed his sympathy to the Senate President, saying that he was too emotional as he was supposed to have barred Natasha from submitting her petition at the first instance as it was an aberration to the Senate rules. Opeyemi hollered, “We cannot relax our rules. This petition cannot stand. It is in court. It is defective. There is no way we can accept this petition. It is not about Senator Akpoti or Akpabio and I urge all our colleagues to abide by the Senate rules. Mr Senate President, I sympathise with you but I know my dear colleague went to court on this matter and later granted an interview on live television where she made the allegations of sexual harassment. Mr President, you were too emotional to tell Natasha to stop when she presented this her petition. It was signed by Senator Uduaghan for whom I have huge respect for but we cannot rewrite our rules because of anybody. We are guided by two things which are Section 60 of the Constitution and the Senate rule of Section 40 which says that no petition shall be personally served by the Senator. The Senate erred by referring it to the committee; in all of these, this petition cannot stand, the issue of sexual harassment is already in court, in view of this there is no way we can accept this petition.”
The Senate Leader then moved that the Senate goes into a closed session; this, however, threw the Senate into a brief rowdy session before calm was restored. The Senate thereafter proceeded with the business of the day, with Akpoti-Uduaghan staging a walkout; she, however, returned to her seat following appeals by some of her colleagues.
Akpabio, in an earlier address, denied Natasha’s allegations before Natasha presented her petition against him. Akpabio said that he has never harassed Akpoti-Uduaghan or any other woman sexually. According to him, he was raised properly by his late single mother and has four daughters.
“While I am aware of the matter in court, I will state clearly that at no time did I ever attempt to sexually harass the said Senator Uduaghan. I and my siblings were raised very well by my late single mother who died in the year 2000 and my siblings still cry till today. And I, therefore, have the highest regard for women… I also wish to state that I also have four beautiful daughters. So, at no time will I ever harass any woman. And I’ve never done so. In addition, even as a Governor, I was awarded various awards as the most gender-friendly Governor for women in Nigeria. I urge all Nigerians, particularly the media, to await the court’s decision and please not jump into conclusion,” Akpabio said.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, while stating her own side of the clash which occurred between her and Akpabio on February 20 over seating arrangements, accused the Senate President of intimidating her due to her refusal to agree to his sexual advances. Akpoti, who is due to appear before the Senate Committee’s disciplinary panel, further accused Akpabio of sexual harassment. On February 25, she filed a N100 billion defamation lawsuit against the Senate President.
