Nigerian Senate suspends female member over sexual assault accusation

The Nigerian Senate on Thursday suspended a female senator after she accused its presiding officer of sexual assault.

Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan will be barred from her office and have her allowances and security withdrawn for six months, according to a recommendation by the Senate's ethics committee.

The accusation made last week by Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of the only four women in a 109-seat chamber, against Senate President Godswill Akpabio was rejected by the ethics committee, citing procedural rule violations.

“This injustice will not be sustained,” the senator said on Thursday after she was prevented from speaking and escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms.

Akpabio has denied any wrongdoing.

The percentage of women in parliament has dropped to an all-time low since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999, according to the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, an organization that works to strengthen democratic governance in the country.

While rare in Nigeria’s parliament, this is not the first time a case involving sexual assault has emerged within its ranks. In 2016, Sen. Dino Melaye was accused of threatening to sexually assault Sen. Remi Tinubu, the current first lady of the country. He was not charged.

Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, the senate majority leader, said Akpoti-Uduaghan should use her time away from her legislative duties to “learn the rules of the senate.”

“I asked her what she will gain if she tries to pull the senate president down,” Bamidele said during the consideration of the report on the senate floor.

Critics, like Chioma Agwuegbo, executive director of TechHerNG, an organization advocating for women’s rights, condemned the ethics committee’s handling of the case, alleging bias.

“The ethics committee to which her petition was referred has shown that it is not fit for purpose," Agwuegbo said.

Akpoti-Uduaghan has filed a lawsuit against the senate president, seeking N100 billion ($64,000) in damages. She did not respond to a request for comment.