Political economist Pat Utomi recently took to his X handle to express his views on the current Senate leadership.
Akpabio, who had previously acted worse under Saraki, and Opeyemi Bamidele, whose expulsion from UNIBEN was rescinded due to a lack of fair hearing in a litigation championed by Femi Falana SAN, presiding over what he described as the ongoing charade in the Senate.
Matters escalated further when Nigerian lawmakers suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months following her petition alleging sexual harassment by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Uduaghan’s allegations, first aired in an interview last Friday, have ignited widespread discussion across the nation. The Senate’s ethics committee dismissed her petition on procedural grounds, arguing that her actions had brought ridicule to the National Assembly. Despite some senators advocating for a milder, three-month suspension, the majority upheld the six-month penalty.
Women’s rights activist Hadiza Ado decried the suspension as a “sad day for Nigerian women,” emphasizing the severe gender imbalance in the Senate—where only four out of 109 senators are women. Uduaghan, calling the move an “injustice,” vowed to continue her fight for accountability even as she faces being barred from the Assembly premises and losing access to her office during the suspension.
The fallout has spurred protests at the assembly ground in Abuja, with demonstrators sharply divided between supporting Akpabio and backing Uduaghan. Chants of “Akpabio must go” underscored the demand for a transparent investigation into the allegations and a broader call for reform within Nigeria’s legislative system.
