Yesterday, after a flurry of debates, the Senate shot down the allegations of sexual harassment by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against its President, Godswill Akpabio.
Her petition on the alleged sexual assault was rejected by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, after it was laid before the panel in the Red Chamber.
According to the committee, the petition was “dead on arrival,’ adding that it breached the relevant rules of the Senate.
During the plenary yesterday, Akpabio denied the allegation of sexual harassment, emphasising that he had never at any point sexually harassed the Kogi Central senator or any other woman.
He said: “I did not harass Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan sexually and I have never harassed any woman sexually.”
There was also a dramatic twist to the controversy as a Federal High Court in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), restrained the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions from conducting a disciplinary proceeding against the Kogi senator.
The presiding judge, Obiora Egwuatu, gave the order on Tuesday, following an ex parte application filed by Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel, who complained about plans by the Senate to suspend her.
However, pro-Akpoti-Uduaghan protesters, made up of people from Kogi Central, besieged the gate of the National Assembly over the allegations.
Led by the senator’s lawyer, Victor Giwa, the placard-carrying protesters, who complained about victimisation of Akpoti-Uduaghan, called for an unbiased investigation.
