‘The Nigerian Senate is like a cult’

A Nigerian senator who claimed that she was sexually harassed by one of the country’s main politicians, told the BBC that the Senate operates as a “cult.”

Fifteen days ago, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months after presenting a petition saying that she had been harassed by the president of Senate Godswill Akpabio, which he denies.

His office also rejected the cult comparison: the last consecutive turn that has grabbed Nigeria, asking questions about gender equality in the socially conservative nation.

Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was being punished for speaking against the system and now feared for her and the security of her two-year-old son, since her security details had been stripped.

“The Nigerian Senate operates as a cult. The president of the Senate directs the Senate as a dictator, not a Democrat. There is no freedom of expression, there is no freedom of expression and anyone who dares to go against him is cut to size,” said the 45 -year -old man in the first television interview since his suspension.

In a statement to the BBC, the subdirector of the Senate, Whip Onyakochi Nwebonyi, said that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was not being silenced and that “his own legislative activities refute this statement.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents the Democratic Party of opposition peoples (PDP), alleged that sexual harassment began in 2023, when she visited the Akpabio country house with her husband.

She said the Akpabio “squeezed her hand suggestively” and said: “I will have an opportunity for us to come here and have a good time.”

Nwebonyi, who says he was also present during the visit, declared: “At no time during the period in question, the president of the Senate made any unwanted sexual advance to Senator Akpoti in his country home.”

But Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that this was just an incident of many and that harassment continued for several months.

She said that, while with other senators at the Senate facilities, Akpabio commented on the effect of: “Natasha really enjoys, it seems that you can make good movements with the waist.”

“The president of the Senate said this,” said Akpoti-Uduaghan to the BBC.

“He makes very sexist statements that they (senators) laugh. He says that in the Senate we are all men, she should be accustomed to this.”

For his part, Nwebonyi said these accusations were “completely false.”

Nigeria has one of the lowest numbers of female parliamentarians in Africa.

Akpoti-Uduaghan one of the four senators in a parliament of 109 members and is also the first senator in its state.

His request against Akpabio was dismissed due to “procedural errors.”

Then, on March 6, the Ethics Committee gave Akpoti-Uduaghan a suspension of six months without pay, citing a “rebel and disruptive” behavior during a debate in the Senate.

Akpoti-Uduaghan told the BBC that he no longer had access to security as a result of the suspension.

“In the Nigerian space, we have had people in recent decades who have been killed for having strong opinions against the government,” he said.

“If I take my son to walk, because I have a two -year -old boy, will they kill me? Will I be attacked?”

Civil society groups in the country have expressed concern about the treatment of Akpoti-Uduaghan, asking for a transparent investigation into their accusations.

“All we can say is that today is a sad day for Nigerian women fighting for emancipation. Of 109 senators, only four are women and now it is suspended,” said the women’s rights activist had the BBC in the BBC when the suspension was imposed.

While the rights groups and some social media users have expressed their support for Akpoti-Uduaghan, she also has her right part of detractors.

After she was suspended, two groups of protesters gathered near Parliament in the capital, Abuja, one that supports the president of the Senate and the other in support of her colleague, singing “ Akpabio must leave. “

Akpoti-Uduaghan had also undergone an avalanche of misogynist abuse on social networks since he made the accusations, he told the BBC.

The scandal is the last episode in a political career that has been difficult from the beginning.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was running for the first time for Kogi state governor in 2019 and claimed that his candidacy was challenged for his mixed race.

He finally appeared on the ballot, but was subjected to physical and verbal attacks during his campaign.

In 2023, he ran for the Senate and lost the elections. The survey was tarnished by violence and after Akpoti-Uduaghan took the matter to the court, the result of the elections was revoked.

“I thought the worst had ended with the elections,” he told the BBC.

“But for a woman, I guess it’s never over, right? They are just different parts, different chapters.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan has taken legal measures in an attempt to revoke his suspension and plans to request the Senate again with his accusations of sexual harassment.

Despite the strong emotional toll, he said he did not regret speaking.

She said she feels encouraged by her husband, her son and the masses of followers outside her family, which include women’s women from other African countries.

“I have received daily calls from women who connect with me and they told me that they are experiencing the same in their parliament, but they can’t speak,” he said.

“They say, Natasha, do this for us. This is my story and my story is that of many women in Nigeria who do not have the courage to speak.”