Three equal branches of government but one of them is falling happens to be the global perspective right now as it concerns a sexual harassment petition a suspended female lawmaker in the Nigerian Senate had submitted to an ethics committee that ought to review it by possibly inviting the parties involved for a mediation at least – but instead Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan got dismissed for six months earlier this March. In what is supposed to be her forced Parliament building hiatus, she has been adopting the consuming power of publicity to channel her views of being victimised by sexist male MPs whose natural psyche seems always to want to subdue women.

Senate President Goodswill Akpabio, the chairman of Nigeria’s National Assembly perhaps by now would feel like he would rather not be at the centre of a sexual harassment controversy whether, false or true, but at the moment it is what he is getting.

It all started on 28 December 2023 at Mr. Akpabio’s country home in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom. There and then, he reportedly directed unwarranted physical contact and flirty slang at the petitioner.

Other allegations, in addition to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment claim, bordered on an abuse of office, likewise the obstruction of legislative duties. They were all brought before the Senate’s Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct Committee headed by the Labour Party’s Senator Neda Imasuen, representing the Edo South Senatorial District, but they were never reviewed, hence the Kogi Central Senator’s conviction that there is truly an attempt to silence her.

My husband was walking behind us and he (Akpabio) held my hand. And we got to this particular room where when he noticed my husband was a few steps away, he then squeezed my hands in a very suggested way. We women know what it means when a man squeezes our hands in a suggestive way and then he went: when I am not in the Senate I will make opportunities for us to have good moments, you know.  Along that line. And I didn’t want to cause any friction because we were very good friends.

My husband respected him a whole lot. So I said, you know what, ‘Natasha hold it up’. Resist it. It’s gonna be fine. You can manage it.

What I thought I was going to manage, just didn’t seem so. Episode after episode, moment after moment.

Yeah, it was multiple times, she tells the BBC News reporter Yemisi Adegoke who at this point of the video interview published today needed to clarify the frequency of the sexual harassment being alleged – how often it had been.

Both were seated two Chesterfields across from each other in the chat. There was a time I rushed to work, forgetting to hear my ring. At this moment, she said she knew about five senators who humoured: Oh, Natasha you’re not wearing your ring, is this an invitation to treat? 

And then there’s another time, Godswill Akpabio allegedly made a statement: Um Natasha, your husband is really enjoying. It looks like you’ll be able to make good movements with your waist.

Such comments are considered insensitive and sexist in the eyes of the petitioner and they seem to gain the nod of a majority of the male-dominated Upper House, making it look like being part of a group of men who have little to no respect for women.

ALSO READ: Are all Nigerian Senators truly equal?

This analysis paints a dark shadow looming over Nigeria’s highest parliamentary body – what appears to be ingrained and permeates with a sense of permanence.

First time in the history of Nigeria, a Senator is laying a sexual harassment petition seeking justice. When I submitted the petition, I was suspended the next day from the Nigerian Senate.

So I believe, also again, that my suspension is a means of silencing me.

You see in the Nigerian Senate, it operates like a cult. There is this culture of fear. If you confront the Senate President, or if you express contrary reviews? Yeah, you risk a chance of being stripped of your privileges.

I have gotten it on a daily basis. Women connecting with me and telling me, that they are experiencing the same thing in their parliament, even as MPS, but that they can’t speak up.

This is my story And my story Is that of many women in Nigeria, that do not have the courage to speak up.

Here is only the latest experience in relation to the ongoing division in the Nigerian Senate. It is the first time in modern times that the national parliament has faced a key issue that deeply draws a line across gender lines. Sadly for the women, it seems they are outnumbered.

While Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continues her media ops to air her views so as not to be silenced, Mr. Akpabio has maintained his innocence over any allegation and his supporters comprising of both parliament colleagues and women coalitions are also sticking to their stand that the red chamber and the protocols that guide them will not be breached.

But isn’t this the patriarchy the world sees when Nigeria is the concern?

Meiza Nigeria