Alleged sexual harassment: What Senator Natasha told UN Inter-Parliamentary Union

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the lawmaker representing Kogi Central, told the United Nations Inter-Parliamentary Union on Tuesday that she had been illegally suspended by the Nigerian Senate.

Natasha, who accused the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of sexual harassment, was recently handed a six-month suspension over her alleged conduct in the Red Chamber.

Speaking at the Women in Parliament session held on Tuesday at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting in New York, Senator Natasha described the suspension as illegal.

The lawmaker, who broke down in tears while delivering her report, demanded justice, saying she had been silenced.

She said, “I came with a heavy heart from Nigeria. I am not here to bring shame to our country but to seek help for the women in Nigeria.

“I was suspended illegally because I submitted a petition of sexual harassment against the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

“I was silenced and suspended. I was suspended for six months with many stringent conditions, such as the withdrawal of my security and all official vehicles assigned to me as a senator.

“My salary was cut off, and I was prohibited from appearing anywhere within the National Assembly. For six months, I must not introduce myself as a senator in Nigeria.

“I have nowhere else to turn but here. This is a clear case of political victimisation.”