A Nigerian senator who alleged she was sexually harassed by one of the country’s top politicians has told the BBC the Senate operates like a “cult”.
A fortnight ago, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months after submitting a petition saying she had been harassed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, which he denies.
His office also rejected the cult comparison – the latest twist in a row that has gripped Nigeria, raising questions about gender equality in the socially conservative nation.
Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was being punished for speaking out against the system and that she now feared for her and her two-year-old’s safety as her security detail had been stripped.
“The Nigerian Senate operates like a cult. The Senate president runs the Senate like a dictator, not a democrat. There is no freedom of speech, there is no freedom of expression and anyone who dares to go against him gets cut to size,” the 45-year-old said in the first TV interview since her suspension.
In a statement to the BBC, the Senate’s Deputy Chief Whip Onyekachi Nwebonyi said Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was not being silenced and that “her own legislative activities disprove this claim”.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleged that the sexual harassment started in 2023, when she visited Akpabio’s country home with her husband.
She said the Akpabio “squeezed her hand suggestively” and said “I will make an opportunity for us to come here and have a good moment”.
Nwebonyi, who says he was also present during the visit, stated: “At no time during the period in question did the Senate president make any unwanted sexual advances to Senator Akpoti at his country house.”
But Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that this was just one incident of many and that the harassment continued for several months.
She said that, while with other senators on the Senate’s premises, Akpabio made a comment to the effect of: “Natasha your husband is really enjoying, it looks like you’ll be able to make good movements with your waist.”
“The Senate president said this,” Akpoti-Uduaghan told the BBC.
“He makes very sexist statements then they [senators] all laugh. He says in the Senate we’re all men, she should be used to this.”
On his part, Nwebonyi said these allegations were “completely false”.
Nigeria has one of the lowest numbers of female parliamentarians in Africa.
Akpoti-Uduaghan one of four female senators in a parliament of 109 members and she is also the first female senator in her state.
Her petition against Akpabio was dismissed due to “procedural errors”.
Then, on 6 March, the ethics committee handed Akpoti-Uduaghan a six-month suspension without pay, citing “unruly and disruptive” behaviour during a debate in the Senate.
Akpoti-Uduaghan told the BBC that she no longer had access to security as a result of the suspension.
“In the Nigerian space, we have had people over the past decades who have been killed for having strong views against the government,” she said.
“If I’m taking my kid for a walk – because I have a two-year-old – will I be killed? Will I be attacked?”
Civil society groups in the country have expressed concerns over Akpoti-Uduaghan’s treatment, calling for a transparent investigation into her allegations.
“All we can say is that today is a sad day for Nigerian women fighting for emancipation. Out of 109 senators, only four are women and one is now suspended,” women’s rights activist Hadiza Ado told the BBC when the suspension was imposed.
While rights groups and some social media users have expressed their support for Akpoti-Uduaghan, she also has her fair share of detractors.
After she was suspended, two groups of protesters gathered near parliament in the capital, Abuja – one backing the senate president and the other in support of his colleague, chanting ”Akpabio must go”.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had also been subjected to an onslaught of misogynist abuse on social media since making the allegations, she told the BBC.
The scandal is the latest episode in a political career that has been rocky from the outset.
Akpoti-Uduaghan first ran for governor of Kogi state in 2019 and alleged that her candidacy was challenged over her mixed-race heritage.
She eventually appeared on the ballot, but was subjected to physical and verbal attacks during her campaign.
In 2023, she ran for Senate and lost the election. The poll was marred by violence and after Akpoti-Uduaghan took the matter to court, the election result was overturned.
“I thought the worst was over with the elections,” she told the BBC.
“But for a woman I guess it’s never really over right? It’s just different parts, different chapters.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan has taken legal action in an attempt to have her suspension overturned and plans to petition the Senate again with her sexual harassment allegations.
Despite the heavy emotional toll, she said she did not regret speaking out.
She said she feels encouraged by her husband, child and the masses of supporters outside her family, which include female politicians from other African countries.
“I have gotten calls on a daily basis from women connecting with me and telling me they are experiencing the same thing in their parliament, but that they can’t speak up,” she said.
“They say, Natasha, do this for us. This is my story and my story is that of many women in Nigeria that do not have the courage to speak up.”
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