.Vows injustice won’t stand
.Senate taking necessary steps on allegation –Oluremi Tinubu
Ignatius Okorocha ,Abuja
The Senate on Thursday at plenary suspended Senator Natasha Agboti Uduaghan for six months based on the recommendations of its committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions.
In report of the committee read by its chairman Senator Ned Nwoko, it recommended that Natasha should proceed on six months Suspension for violating the rules of the Senate.
The committee also advocated that her salary and security details will be withdrawn during the period of her suspension.
It further recommended that during the period of suspension the embattled senator should not he seen within Senate premises and that her office should be under-lock and key while the salaries of her legislative Aides should be withheld until her period of suspension is either called off or completed.
Meanwhile Senators were allowed to react on the recommendations of the committee and at the end it was unanimously agreed that almost all the items in the recommendations were carried through a voice votes.
In their reaction both the Senators from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and those from the opposition condemned the action of senator Natasha and advised her to tender unreserved apology to the leadership of the Senate in particular and the upper chamber in general for dragging the sanctity of the hallow chamber to a disrepute.
The recommendations were subsequently put to voice votes and the lawmakers unanimously agreed that the Senator representing Kogi Central be suspended for six months.
However, through the intervention of the Senator Orji Uzo-Kalu who pleaded that the Natasha’s legislative Aides should be allowed to receive their salaries during their principal’s suspension.
Meanwhile, she was laid out of the chamber, Natasha exclaimed,”This injustice will not be sustained,” she said before her microphone was turned off.
Recall that Senator Natasha’s recently sparked a controversy when she refused to move to the seat allocated to her citing Order 10 of the Senate Standing Rules, which protects the privileges of members.
Hence, the Senate referred her to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions for disciplinary review.
While the senate awaits the report of the committee, Senator Natasha accused Akpabio of sexual harassment on a live television programme.
According to her, the Senate President is frustrating her because she refused to sleep with him. E
Earlier, during the Senate’s plenary session on Thursday, March 6, 2025, Senator Natasha resubmitted her harassment petition to the Senate after the initial petition was rejected
.Senate taking necessary steps on allegation –Oluremi Tinubu
However, Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Thursday, expressed her personal views over sexual harassment controversies in the Senate, saying the Chamber has come of age and must be treated with respect.
According to the First Lady, the Senate Chamber is a place of honour, hence should not be known for controversy.
She gave her observation amid allegations of sexual harassment against the President of the Senate, Goodwill Akpabio, and abuse of power by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Speaking to journalists at the State House, Abuja, in her commemoration of the International Women’s Day, She dismissed concerns over the Senate’s handling of issues, insisting lawmakers are “doing what is needful.”
The First Lady, who served in the Senate for 12 years, said the chamber should be a place of honour, not controversy.
Her words, “I know with what is going on in the Senate, you’ll say, why am I not taking a positions? I believe that Senate is doing what is needful, because that’s what it is, it’s an inside place, and it’s a matured chambers.
“We shouldn’t be hearing things like that. It’s a matured chamber, and it should be treated with respect. It’s an honour for you to be in that place alone.
“I was there for 12 years, even in my younger days, and I’m still trying to look young, but people compliment you all the time only that”.
Reflecting on her own 12-year tenure in the Senate, the President’s wife admonished women to carry themselves with dignity and confidence.
According to her, women should not allow themselves to be in positions where they could be demeaned.
“Women, raise yourself. Don’t be in a position that men will be talking to you in ways that are unacceptable. You can always shut them down before they start,” she advised.
In line with this year’s International Women’s Day theme, which revisits the commitments made at the 1995 Beijing Conference on gender equality, the First Lady highlighted the progress Nigerian women have made over the years.
“Women, we’ve come a long way, even from all the matriarchs of old. They contributed, and up till now, women are doing phenomenal things,” she said.
She cited the example of Zuriel Oduwole, a young Nigerian advocate making waves on the international stage.
“Look at little Zuriel—you see what we can do. So I don’t believe that Nigerian youths are not equipped. They have what it takes,” she added.
She celebrated the resilience of Nigerian women and encouraged them to continue striving for excellence.
“Keep doing what you know how to do, lifting your heads high. All the very best, and Happy International Women’s Day”, she urged.
She also urged Nigerian women to assert themselves in leadership and not be sidelined.
