Natasha Akpoti absent as Senate panel begins hearing on misconduct case

As the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions commenced hearing on the allegations on disorder during the plenary, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was absent.

BusinessDay reports that she was present at the Plenary on Wednesday morning.

The Senate had last week referred to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to its disciplinary committee over an alleged procedural infraction on the floor of the chamber.

At the commencement at about 2:30 pm, the committee chairman, Neda Imasuen formally opened the hearing after which Senator Yemi Adaramodu, brought for this case.

The controversy began last week when Natasha discovered that her seat had been reassigned upon resumption of the session.

Refusing to comply with the new arrangement, she challenged the decision, sparking a heated exchange.

“Failure to comply with the new seating arrangement could lead to penalties, including being barred from participating in Senate discussions,” Chief Whip Tahir Monguno warned, citing sections of the Senate rule book that justified the reassignment.

He stated that such adjustments fell within the constitutional prerogative of the Senate President.

Unrelenting, Akpoti-Uduaghan protested loudly, confronting the Senate President directly, “I don’t care if I am silenced, I am not afraid. You have denied me my privilege. Mr. Senate President, ever since the nightclub incident, you have deliberately silenced my voice.

She continued, “As a senator duly elected by my people, I choose to remain on this seat, come what may. The worst you can do is to suspend me from this sitting, and that will not stop me from contributing my quota to my constituency, the Senate, and Nigeria as a whole.”

Read also: Senate rejects Natasha Akpoti’s sexual harassment petition against Akpabio

Pointing a finger at Akpabio, she further stated: “Mr. Senate President, I have taken a lot from you. If you don’t want me to speak publicly, I will let the whole world know how you have discriminated against me, maligned me, dehumanized me.

“Your choice of words has embarrassed me. Mr. President, do what you may, I will not leave this seat.”

As she continued voicing her objections, Senate President Godswill Akpabio instructed the Sergeant-at-Arms to intervene:

“Please take her out so that we can continue with today’s activities.”

Following the altercation, Akpoti-Uduaghan appeared on Human Rights Radio on Saturday, where she reiterated her claims of being victimized in the Senate.

Consequently, Yemi Adaramodu, Senate Spokesperson, cited Orders 1B and 10 of the Senate Standing Rules, which pertain to privileges and procedural conduct within the chamber, and took the issue to the Senate.

“The order states that, ‘Any Senator may rise at any time to speak upon a matter of privilege, suddenly arising,'” Adaramodu explained.

Describing the altercation as a “procedural infraction” rather than mere drama, he lamented the negative public commentary it had generated.

“I will note that when you are in the Senate or the Legislature and not a member, you cannot raise a point of order. You have to be a member to ask for order,” he stressed.

“The Senate is not for skit-making, not for content creation where we show off for cameras, take snapshots, TikTok, and so on,” he stated, condemning what he called Akpoti-Uduaghan’s “extreme intransigence and obduracy.”

It will be recalled that Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Wednesday, obtained an interim court order to restrict the committee from hearing the case.