The Nigerian political landscape is really an interesting spectacle. There is always drama, which could be funny, dumb or absurd. Most times, the drama exposes the foolishness of the actors, who may think that they are smart, but, who, in reality, are bad characters in a circus that is not worth the time.
In the last couple of months, the country has seen a lot, which confirms the notion that ours is a country of unending drama. We saw the drama of the hardship protest. We saw the drama of local fuel refining versus fuel importation. We have seen the drama of rise and fall of fuel price. We saw the drama of Rivers State political crisis and the eventual imposition of a state of emergency. We have seen the Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan drama. Indeed, we have seen many funny things and the country is drama weary.
Funny enough, some of these dramas are as silly as they are unnecessary, like the Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan saga, which has dominated the political space at a time when there are many issues of national importance that should occupy our minds. An incident that should have passed for the misunderstanding of each other by two senators has been so mismanaged by the actors, who are behaving like children in “Ota Akara” (school of beans bake-eating kindergartens), that the nation has been ridiculed and scarce resources being wasted on frivolities. Today, a recall process against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, has been attempted, and millions of money wasted.
The allocation of seats at the Nigerian parliament is the prerogative of the presiding officer. Whether objectively or subjectively done, such seat allocation could happen at any time. If Senate President of Nigeria, Godswill Akpabio, decides to change the siting position of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, the question is: What is the fuss? A senator could sit anywhere in parliament, whether it is front row or back row, and make contributions that could resonate, propel good governance and positively affect the lives of the people. It is not, therefore, where a senator sits that makes him or her a good representative of the people. As they say, the hood does not make the monk.
I find it really funny that a senator could, in reaction to the change of her sitting position in the Senate, delve into sexual harassment allegation to present herself as the victim. This is not to say that one is exonerating Senator Akpabio, the accused. It is not also saying that he is guilty as charged. This is just to say that one would not waste one’s time commenting on an allegation bordering on sexual harassment, sexual gratification or intimate relationship between a man and a woman, when we should be worrying about the conduct of the Senate in discharging its duty of making laws, acting as a check on the president of Nigeria and conducting serious oversight on the Executive as well as losing sleep about socio-economic decay in the country.
The Senate is an important institution in a democracy. It is not a place where sexual conduct or sexual misconduct of anybody should be the focus. Investigation of the sexual misconduct of senators or public officers should be channeled to the appropriate security agencies with the requisite evidence and dealt with at that level. Making it a media event or amplifying it in the court of public opinion, within and outside the country, is simply playing to the gallery.
It is unbelievable that a little thing that should have ordinarily been a storm in a teacup has been transmogrified to a huge scandal, which makes the Senate and Nigeria a laughing stock. Inasmuch as Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has her share of the blame in the whole saga, the Senate erred by the way it handled the matter. Going to the extreme of suspending the senator for six months, on the excuse that she breached the Senate rules, looks more vindictive than it is reasonable. No matter how justified the Senate may think it is, such extreme punitive action, at a time when the petition bordering on sexual harassment was not given the desired attention, for whatever it is worth, gives the Senate away as trying to protect one person, to the detriment of the reputation of the parliament as an institution.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s outburst on the floor of the house, questioning the change of her sitting position, is not the first time a senator challenged the status quo at the Senate, as it were. Kicking her out of the Senate and thereby depriving her constituents the representation they deserve are tantamount to abuse of power and in fact, using a sledgehammer to kill an ant. It is hard for the Senate to convince us that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension has nothing to do with her allegation, since its anger was that she went to national television to speak on it. It is clear that there is no way you can separate the two: The allegation and the mode it was made. The Senate should have known that Senator Akpabio is capable of fighting for himself and, therefore, maintain neutrality. If the Senate has to step in to suspend Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, the other reasonable things to have done was to have asked Senator Akpabio to step aside from his office, in the time being.
The attempt to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate makes the matter worse for those not happy with her. Engineering a recall process, a few weeks after the suspension of the senator, gives those at the centre of the crisis away as trying very hard to throw around their weight and silence the senator. An elected representative could be recalled if the person has failed in his or her duties. When it is on frivolities, it becomes a joke. The reason those who attempted Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s recall is giving, in summary, is “loss of confidence.” How ridiculous!
The speed with which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) acted regarding the so-called recall process leaves much to be desired. The INEC, which is yet to conduct or start the process of conducting by-elections in Anambra and Edo states to fill the vacant seats left by the late Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Uba and Governor Monday Okpebholo for almost one year, had in a supersonic speed, followed up with the request to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The INEC had, in a statement, said: “Further to the statement issued yesterday, Tuesday 25th March 2025, the Commission hereby confirms that the contact address of representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission dated today Wednesday 26th March 2025.
“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the Senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address. The same letter has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinize the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50 percent) of the registered voters in the Constituency. This will be done in the coming days. The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission.”
The INEC, has already “scrutinized” the list of signatories submitted and has ascertained that the petition against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan did not meet the requirement of Section 69(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). In the first place, the INEC should not have been so prompt in attending to the recall process since the petition had no merit. The electoral body should rather concentrate on what would make our electoral system better and not indirectly aiding those who want to make a ridicule of it or the system. However, it is gratifying that the electoral commission has seen that the petition did not meet the requirement. It should therefore confine it to the thrash can permanently.
The parties to the Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan saga should drop their ego and act as responsible people deserving of the office of senator. In sane societies, both Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senator Akpabio ought to have stepped aside in the interest of the integrity of the Senate. The prestige of the Senate should not be impinged upon because of the personal battle of two senators. It is time for all the senators to realize that the damage the Natasha sage has done to the legislature is enormous and therefore set in motion the process of cleansing the Augean stable.