The Chairman of the Senate Inter-parliamentary Committee, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim has slammed the suspended senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, saying her petition at the United Nations Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is dead on arrival.
Ibrahim, a former Ondo governorship aspirant made this remark in a statement on Thursday in reaction to the ongoing allegations of sexual harassment in the Nigerian Senate.
New Telegraph recalls that Akpoti-Uduaghan had two weeks ago accused the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment by presenting her case at a United Nations (UN) forum, International Parliamentary Union (IPU) alleging political victimization.
She was suspended on March 6 after a heated confrontation with the Senate leadership over a new seating arrangement, which she claimed was designed to undermine her.
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However, Ibrahim argued that her move was baseless as she was not a member of the union.
According to him, IPU membership was extended to Nigeria as a country and not Natasha.
He said, “A petition can only be lodged against another member state by a member state. This implies that the IPU cannot consider petitions from individuals who are not members. The suspended Senator Natasha is not a member of the IPU, but Nigeria is!
“Additionally, the suspended Senator cannot represent the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I served as the interim president of the IPU in Geneva in 2023, and I am familiar with how the IPU operates after presiding over its proceedings.
“Furthermore, as Chairman of the Interparliamentary Committee in the Nigerian Senate, I did not approve or authorise the suspended Senator Natasha to attend the IPU on behalf of Nigeria to the Senate President.”
