Senator Natasha submits sexual harassment petition against Akpabio; stages walkout afterwards

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan submitted a sexual harassment petition against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio before the upper chambers. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan reiterated recent allegations she made during a television interview in the petition. Akpabio accepted the petition against himself, and directed it to the committee on code of conduct, ethics and public petitions. He urged that it be treated in a timely manner. Meanwhile, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, chief whip of the senate, objected against the submission arguing that the harassment case is already in court, and as such cannot be treated in the senate. Quoting order 40, rule 7, he said “Senate should not receive or deliberate on any matter to which actions are pending in the court of law”. Rejecting Senator’s Monguno’s objection, Senator Akpoti argued that the matter in court was separate from the sexual allegation claims. She said This matter is not in court. The matter in court is a defamation against the senate president’s special assistant on social media, Patrick Mfon, who accused me of dressing indecently to the senate, Another objection arose from Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele who described the petition as “defective”. We cannot relax our rules. This petition cannot stand. It is in court. It is defective. There is no way we can accept this petition, A brief chaos ensued after which Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan staged a walkout.