THE conspiracy to recall the senator representing Kogi Central, Ms Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, is gathering steam as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirms that it has received the details of the petitioners. 

The petition had suffered set back on Tuesday after the INEC said it fell short of expectation. “The commission’s immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact addresses, telephone number(s) and e-mail address(es) in the covering letter forwarding the petition through which they can be contacted as provided in Clause 1(f) of our regulations and guidelines,” said National Commissioner & Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Sam Olumekun.

“The address given is Okene, Kogi State, which is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. Only the telephone number of the lead petitioner is provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners.”

However, in a rather bizzare manner, INEC made a U-turn in 24 hours, claiming it had gathered the addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of 474,554 registered voters in Natasha’s constituency spread across 902 polling units in 57 registration areas (wards) in the five local government areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi and Okene.

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In a statement issued on Wednesday through its X (formerly Twitter) by Mr Olumekun, the electoral body said the petitioners had now provided their contact address, phone numbers, and email addresses in compliance with the recall guidelines.

“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the Senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address. The same letter has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website,” the statement read.

Natasha’s plight

Ms Natasha Uduaghan was recently suspended by the Senate for “misconduct” and the violation of the rules of the Red Chamber, according to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges. Ms Natasha had challenged the Senate president, Mr Godswill Akpabio, for changing her seat arrangement and preventing her from pushing her motions in the Senate.

Natasha subsequently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her in Akwa Ibom State. She claimed that her refusal to give in to Mr Akpabio’s sexual advances had led to her persecution, including the Senate president’s blockage of her motion for Ajaokuta Steel Company.

“My issue with Akpabio started on the 8th of December, 2023, when my husband and I attended a pre-birthday invitation extended by the Senate President at his residence in Uyo. We had earlier gone to his house at Ikot-Ekpene, and he held my hand and said he wanted to show me around his house. Just the three of us, my husband and him. I noticed he hastened his pace while still holding my hand, and he got to this particular sitting room,” she told Arise TV last week.

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“He asked ‘do you like my house?’ and I replied ‘of course yes,’ and he said, ‘now that you are a Senator, you are going to create time for us to spend quality time here and you will enjoy it.’

“Later, on the floor of the Senate, I attempted to raise a motion regarding corrupt practices at the Ajaokuta Steel Company. I listed this motion five times, and it was only on the sixth occasion that it appeared on the order paper. When I approached the Senate President to enquire why my motion had been repeatedly stepped down, he told me ‘Natasha, I am the Chief Presiding officer of the Senate. You can enjoy a whole lot if you take care of me and make me happy.’ At that point, I told him that I would pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Following the development, the Senate ethics committee invited Natasha to its sitting, for which Natasha did not attend.

The Senate later suspended Natasha. Surprisingly, the verdict was read by Senate President, Mr Akpabio, who is the principal accuser in the sexual harassment allegation. This, according to Document Women, should never be so. In other nations, legislators accused of sexual harassment stepped down to avoid interfering with the cases.

Why Akpabio should have stepped down

History is replete with male lawmakers who were accused of sexually harassing women. They did the honourable thing and stepped down or were suspended by their parties. In 2017, the United Kingdom’s Labour Party suspended Luton North MP, Mr Kelvin Hopkins, after an allegation of sexual harassment against a party activist two years earlier.

In March 2024, Arizona lawmaker, Mr Jevin Hodge, a 30-year-old Democrat, was accused of sexual harassment. He initially denied the allegation published in the Arizona Republic but later resigned honourably. 

Co-founder of BudgIT, Mr Olúṣeun Onígbindé, said the Senate president should step down, noting that “that’s the least expected from a decent group of people.”

Senate violates court order

In all of the coversation, no one seems to be talking about an earlier court order by Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja restraining the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions from conducting disciplinary proceedings against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Justice Egwuatu had issued the order after an ex parte application filed by counsel for Ms Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Mr Victor Giwa.

On Friday, Mr Giwa, told The Punch that the Senate resolution was a violation of a court order.

“The suspension is void, it cannot even take any effect. The suspension is illegal because there is a court order that restrained the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges from taking further action.

“The committee disobeyed a valid court order that was served on them, making a mockery of the chamber that is supposed to uphold the law,” Giwa said, as reported by The Punch.

Lawyers agree with him on this, noting that the Senate, being an important democratic institution, should never have violated the court order.

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“This is just how low we have dragged our institution,” said a lawyer, Ms Bisola Akintola

Failure to investigate Natasha’s allegation

Several Nigerians are worried that a chamber like the Senate sidestepped a serious allegation as sexual misconduct, making the complainant seem like an aggressor.

A former minister of education, Ms Obiageli Ezekwesili, said instead of probing the sexual harassment allegations levelled by Natasha against Senate president, the Senate chose the ignoble path of vicious abuse of power and desecration of our public institution.

“Investigate the accusation of sexual harassment is all that sensible Nigerians have collectively asked the @NGRSenate to do, but no, they have decided to choose the ignoble path of vicious a refkection of hof power and desecration of our Public Institution @nassnigeria,” she said on her X on Friday.

Apart from the Senate’s inability to investigate the matter, political analysts say that members of the chamber spoke publicly in a manner that absolved Mr Akpabio from the sexual harassment allegation even without an investigation into the matter.

For instance, political watchers told Economy Post that Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Mr Neda Imaseun, absolved Mr Akpabio of the allegation on Arise TV.

“He said openly that the Senate president has never been accused of that. Has he tried to investigate this particular allegation? It smacks of bias and injustice against Natasha,” said a lawyer and human rights activist, Ms Nnenna Iguruonye.