Ezekwesili slams Senate for rejecting Natasha’s petition

Oby Ezekwesili, a former two-time Nigerian minister, has slammed the Senate for dismissing Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition that accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment and abuse of office.

Ezekwesili described the Senate’s actions as a “democratic aberration,” “farcical,” and a “blot on Nigeria’s democracy.”

The petition, filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was presented during a Senate session. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan formally submitted the petition, which included allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of office against Akpabio.

Standing on Order 40 of the Senate Rule, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, during the sitting yesterday, requested that the petition be received and investigated, stating, “You may recall that I made some statements on Arise TV last Friday. I am now formally submitting them as a petition against the Senate president.”

Akpabio, who was presiding over the session, allowed Akpoti-Uduaghan to submit the petition and referred it to the Senate’s Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions. However, some Senate members, including Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and Chief Whip Tahir Monguno, opposed Akpabio’s decision.

They argued that it was against Senate rules for a sitting senator to submit a petition that they had written and signed themselves. Despite this, Akpabio allowed the petition to proceed.

Later, the Senate committee rejected the petition, stating that it violated Senate rules. Committee Chairman Senator Neda Imasuen explained that the petition was “dead on arrival” because Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan had signed it personally, which went against Senate rules.

Imasuen also argued that the issue was already in court, so the Senate could not take it up due to the “sub judice” rule, saying, “The petition runs contrary to Senate rules and cannot be entertained.”

In a letter to the Nigerian Senate, Ezekwesili on Thursday slammed the Senate’s decision by denouncing the Senate for permitting Akpabio to chair proceedings while his own integrity was being questioned.

Ezekwesili described the actions of the lawmakers as “farcical” and a “blot on our democracy.”

“Dismissing a serious accusation against the Senate President just like the Senators irresponsibly did yesterday is a democratic aberration. It cannot stand. Never,” Ezekwesili wrote on X.

“What happened yesterday in the Senate Chamber, where a Senate President presided over a grave matter involving him, was farcical and a blot on our democracy. It is in our public interest that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition be urgently given the seriousness it deserves to defend the institutional integrity of our Senate.”

Ezekwesili also went on to remind the Senate that “Our National Assembly, which comprises the Senate and the House of Representatives, belongs to the Nigerian people and not to politicians of any stripe and status. This is why the National Assembly is called a public institution.”

She further stated, “No individual nor collection of individuals and their groups can capture a public institution and use it to their personal benefit or advantage.”

“Whenever a situation like the one involving Senators @NatashaAkpoti and @Senator_Akpabio occurs, the lawmakers must understand the Nigerian public wants transparency and full disclosure.”

The former minister also reminded the Senate that the National Assembly, which comprises the Senate and the House of Representatives, “belongs to the Nigerian people and not to politicians of any stripe and status.”

Ezekwesili, who served in the Ministry of Education and Solid Minerals of Nigeria, reminded the Senate that “No individual nor collection of individuals and their groups can capture a public institution and use it to their personal benefit or advantage.”

She then requested that the matter be independently investigated and openly discussed in a public hearing so that the accused does not preside.

“Swiftly appoint an independent investigator on the petition of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. Cc: @icpcnigeria and elevate the status of the proceedings on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Ethics and Privileges Committee into a public hearing for full transparency and disclosure.”