In what many on social media are describing as “expected,” the Nigerian Senate has on Wednesday, March 5, dismissed a petition brought before it by Senator Natasha Akpoti against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Sexual assault accusation
On Friday, February 28, the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, accused Nigeria’s Senate President of sexually harassing her. What followed her accusation was two ₦350 billion lawsuits by Akpabio’s wife, Ekaette Akpabio who said the accusation had caused her family emotional distress and harmed their reputation.
Between February 28 to March 5, about four Senators have publicly spoken on the allegation, all of them heavily supporting and standing by the Senate President, including Senator Neda Imasuen, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions.
Also read: Is the Nigerian Senate Trying to Silence Natasha Akpoti?
Submission of petition
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s accusation against Akpabio was made on television alone and therefore informal so on Wednesday, March 5, she formalised it by submitting a petition before the Senate.
But hours after the Senator submitted her petition, the Senate dismissed it, saying it was invalid.
Why was Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition dismissed?
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who had staged a walkout earlier due to a commotion during the submission of her petition, was absent at the hearing. Explaining the reason for the petition’s dismissal, Senator Neda Imasuen, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, who first described the petition as “dead on arrival,” said it was dismissed because it was against Order 40 subsection four of the Senate Standing Orders which states that “no Senator will present to the Senate, a petition signed by him or herself.” This means that Akpoti-Uduaghan has to get another individual to sign the petition before the Senate can attend to it.
Additionally, Imasuen said the Senate could not consider the petition because the issues it raises are already in court. Hoever, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had already objected to this claim earlier, saying the case was not in court.
“This matter is not in court. The matter in court is a defamation against the senate president’s special assistant on social media, Patrick Mfon, who accused me of dressing indecently to the senate,” she explained.
This is a developing story
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