What has developed into an invasive national opprobrium began on Tuesday 25, 2025, as an innocuous stand-off over seating arrangements during plenary. Tension had flared, leading to a heated exchange between Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and the senate leadership.
According to reports, the controversy began when Senator Natasha’s seat was relocated upon resumption of the session, but she refused to comply with the change.
The Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno, had raised a point of order, citing sections of the Senate rule book to justify the reassignment of seats. Monguno explained that the changes were necessary to accommodate shifts caused by some opposition members moving to the majority wing. The changes, he argued, are within the constitutional prerogative of the Senate President.
Senator Monguno further emphasized that failure to comply with the new seating arrangement could lead to penalties, including the possibility of being barred from participating in discussions on the Senate floor. Upholding this position, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, ruled in favour of the order.
However, when Senator Natasha raised her hand to speak, she was denied recognition because she was not addressing the chamber from her newly assigned seat. Refusing to back down, Senator Natasha raised her voice in protest, directly confronting the Senate President.
“I don’t care if I am silenced. I am not afraid of you. You have denied me my privilege,” the Kogi lawmaker had thundered out in defiance. The altercation assumed a new level of drama and tension during the plenary, as the Senate President, at a point, ordered the sergeant at arms to walk Natasha out, but after the intervention from various lawmakers, calm was restored. She, however, adamantly declined to move.
The Senate later unanimously voted to refer Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions for disciplinary review, following her seating arrangement dispute. The committee, chaired by Senator Neda Imaseun, was given two weeks to report back on its findings.
Although Akpabio tried to downplay the severity of the matter, the Kogi lawmaker featured on Arise TV the next morning where she accused the Senate president of sexual harassment. This was at the stage that the whole matter leapt out of the Senate chambers and became a public spectacle.
Detailing the alleged sexual harassment, Senator Natasha alleged that the Senate president repeatedly blocked a motion she tried to advance in the chamber and then tied his cooperation with her to demands for sexual favour.
The senator alleged that she was told by Akpabio that the motion could go through if she “took care” of him. “He then said… ‘You can enjoy a whole lot if you take care of me and make me happy,'” she said. She claimed that the change in seating, which sparked a row in the chambers, “was a trap, a set-up,” by Akpabio, who ordered the change.
She further bemoaned: “I have been dehumanized, I have been maligned… the seat change was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Akpabio, however, promptly denied the accusations.
Last week Thursday, the Senate suspended the Kogi Central senator for six months following recommendations by its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. That was about 24 hours after her petition formalising her sexual harassment allegations against the Senate president was rejected for allegedly violating Senate procedures.
Natasha’s suspension had expectedly generated public outrage and obloquy. Protesters and counter-protesters took to the streets of the federal capital Abuja the day she was suspended, with one group calling on her to apologise.
Those who came to the senator’s defence argued that the row had highlighted long-standing women’s rights issues in the country where, according to them, only four senators in a 109-member red chamber are women.
Mabel Adinya Ade, the founder of a women’s rights group, said the suspension had “exposed the deeply entrenched gender-based violence (GBV) and the systemic marginalization of women in Nigerian politics.”
Calling the suspension a “stunning display of patriarchal impunity,” Ade, in an article published in Law and Society magazine, said “the message is chilling: speak out, and you will be punished.”
She implied that by “stifling women’s leadership, Nigeria is sabotaging its own progress.”
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, in their own reactions, cautioned the Senate against making the political atmosphere toxic for women. Major opposition parties in the country have also criticised the manner in which the complaint is being handled.
Senator Natasha described her suspension as “unjust and illegal.” “My unjust suspension from the Nigerian Senate,” she said in a statement posted on social media, “invalidates the principles of natural justice, fairness and equity. The illegal suspension does not withdraw my legitimacy as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I will continue to use my duly elected position to serve my constituents and country to the best of my ability till 2027 … and beyond.”
Akpabio and his accuser have continued to exchange britbats over the matter. The Senate president, who vociferously denied ever harassing Natasha as alleged, accused the Kogi senator of traumatising others with what he called unfounded allegations. Natasha, in response, claimed she was not the first to accuse the Senate President of sexual harassment, urging him to submit to an investigation.
Akpabio, reacting at an event to commemorate International Women’s Day on Saturday, claimed to be merely Natasha’s victim. The Senate president lamented that the sexual accusation traumatised him, saying previous allegations of sexual harassment levelled against others by the senator had turned out to be false.
He said: “It was only yesterday I realised that what we are talking about only happened when there was a change of seat. That was when all hell was let loose and all sorts of allegations came up. Only after the change of seat and change of committee, which my senators know happen from time to time.
“This was said to have happened on the 8th of December, a day before my birthday, which was celebrated in the stadium in 2023. So, from the 8th of December 2023, I never heard, my wife never heard, no Nigerian ever heard, even the husband never heard any issue of sexual harassment until her committee was changed, and her seat was changed.
“Have you ever wondered about the trauma caused by that same woman on the other people she has accused in the past? None has been proved so far. Do you even wonder the trauma this caused to the 10th Senate and the image of the Senate with all these useless allegations?
“I have refrained from making a statement.
“Look at these beautiful women. They have come across me so many times. Have I ever harassed any one of you? Or is the person thinking that you are not beautiful?”
But Natasha dismissed the claims by the Senate President, insisting that a formal investigation was necessary to establish the truth.
The senator, who spoke through her lawyer, Victor Giwa, also pointed out that a similar allegation of sexual harassment was made against Akpabio by a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Joy Nunieh.
“If Akpabio makes such a statement, the question anybody will ask is why are there two allegations of sexual harassment against him? Joy Nunieh made the same allegation, and now it is Natasha. Akpabio should subject himself to investigation,” the lawyer taunted.
Although, rejecting Natasha’s petition and eventually suspending her were provoked by procedural violations and an alleged impish inclination in refusing to honour the summons of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to which her matter was referred respectively, the upper chamber, in our view, ought to have exercised a high degree of caution and discretion in handing down punitive measures against her yet.
We believe that no matter the degree of her impolitic conduct regarding her allegations against the Senate president, all punitive considerations should have been delayed till the accusations have been thoroughly interrogated and pushed into a denouncement. This is because of the imponderable nature of the accusations.
The hard fact of the matter is that owing to the general breakdown of morals and the pervasive abuse of power in our society, the silent majority, who are less discerning, will readily believe any allegation of sexual harassment by a stunning beauty like Natasha against anyone in power until proved otherwise.
That is precisely why Natasha’s suspension and the rejection of her petition elicited such a wide outcry not minding the procedural infringement. The general perception is that the senator is being persecuted for her allegations against Akpabio. So, the red chamber needs a lot of convincing to do!
Of course, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Saturday, extensively clarified that Senator Natasha was suspended for alleged gross misconduct and not for the sexual harassment allegation she levelled against Akpabio. Bamidele, in a statement, said there were deliberate false narratives being circulated by some media organisations on the matter.
He clarified: “If Senator Uduaghan had strictly followed our guiding principles, the Senate would have treated her petition based on merit in line with its practice. But she never obeyed the established practices of the institution where she was serving.”
According to him, her suspension was a decision of the committee of the whole Senate following the submission of a report by the chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, Senator Neda Imaseun. The report found her guilty of violating sections 6.1 and 6.2 of the Senate Rules and recommended her immediate suspension.
“The disciplinary action was a response to her repeated violations of legislative decorum, including: One, for refusing to sit in her assigned seat during plenary on February 25, 2025, despite multiple pleas from the Minority Leader and other ranking senators—an act of open defiance and disorderly conduct.
“Two, for speaking without being recognised by the presiding officer in clear violation of parliamentary practices and procedures on February 25, 2025. Three, for engaging in unruly and disruptive behaviour, obstructing the orderly conduct of Senate proceedings.
“Four, for making abusive and disrespectful remarks against the leadership of the Senate.
Five, defying and refusing to comply with the summons of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges mandated to investigate cases of misconduct.”
The Senate leader urged the public and the media to disregard what he called false reports suggesting otherwise and to always seek the truth before spreading politically motivated narratives.
It is, however, reassuring that the Kogi senator resubmitted her sexual harassment petition against the Senate President on Thursday, minutes before she was controversially suspended from the upper legislative chamber.
The petition, signed by her constituent, Zubairu Yaqubu, who described himself as a concerned Nigerian citizen from Kogi Central Senatorial District, accused Akpabio of harassing Natasha sexually. It also accused him of abuse of office and obstruction of legislative duties.
The earlier petition was rejected because the Chairman of the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Neda Imasuen, explained that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan had personally signed the petition, which violated Senate Order 40 (4), a rule that prohibits senators from submitting petitions they have signed themselves.
This time, her petition was accepted and referred to the Ethics and Privileges Committee. This is commendable. We admonish that the upper chamber subject the petition to an open, unfettered and unbiased investigation towards establishing the veracity or otherwise of the sexual harassment allegations.
