Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Senator representing Kogi Central, has condemned her suspension from the Nigerian Senate as a deliberate act to mute her voice.
She expressed feeling victimized during an interview with the BBC on Tuesday.
“I am being victimised. My suspension is a way to silence me,” she said.
Sharing her experience, she recounted an encounter with Akpabio at his home. “We were at his country home. He was taking me around his house. My husband was walking behind us. He held my hand.
“He then squeezed my hands in a very suggestive way. We, women, know what it means when a man squeezes our hands in a suggestive way.
“And he went, ‘Now that you’re in the Senate, I’ll make an opportunity for us to come here and have a good moment,’ you know, along that line.”
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghanhad previously accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment, which led to her suspension on March 6 for “gross misconduct” following a disagreement with Akpabio over seating arrangements.
When asked if Akpabio had made advances towards her inside the Senate chamber, she recalled another incident. “There was a time when I rushed to work and forgot to wear my ring. There were about five senators there. He said, ‘Oh Natasha, you are not wearing your ring, is this an invitation to treat?’ You know, statements like this.”
In response, the Senate’s Deputy Chief Whip, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, refuted Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations, denying that Akpabio had sexually harassed her and dismissing her claims of being silenced by the Senate.
“Senator Natasha’s legislative activities show this claim is not true,” Nwaebonyi said.
She, however, escalated her dispute with Akpabio when she presented her case at a United Nations forum, calling for international intervention to hold the Nigerian Senate accountable.
