The Senate has once again dismissed a petition alleging sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, a move that has sparked allegations of bias and lack of fair hearing from the petitioner.
Mr. Zuberu Yakubu, who filed the petition on behalf of suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions on Tuesday, accompanied by his counsel, Dr. Abiola Akiyode, and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili.
However, the session quickly turned contentious as Yakubu accused the committee of pre-judging the matter and refusing to grant a fair hearing.
Yakubu refused to speak on the allegations unless Senator Natasha, his principal witness, was allowed to be present at the National Assembly.
He further accused the committee’s chairman, Senator Neda Imasuen, of bias, citing his earlier public statement that the petition was “dead on arrival.”
“If the chairman has already declared the petition dead before even hearing it, how can we expect fairness?” Yakubu questioned.
“One of the committee members even went on national television to claim he was a principal witness for the Senate President. How then can we trust this process?”
After heated exchanges, the committee dismissed the petition on the grounds that the matter was already before a court of law.
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Yakubu, however, challenged the Senate’s handling of the case, stating, “If they knew the matter was in court, why did they invite me in the first place? This only confirms their bias and lack of respect for due process.”
His counsel, Dr. Akiyode, echoed similar concerns, questioning the inconsistency in the Senate’s approach.
“If the committee had already dismissed Natasha’s initial petition as ‘dead on arrival,’ why did they entertain this one, only to throw it out again? It clearly shows a lack of consistency and due process,” she said.
Former Minister Ezekwesili also condemned the Senate’s actions, describing them as “a gross degradation of the constitution and the laws of the land.” She warned that the Senate’s continued prioritization of its internal rules over Nigeria’s constitutional provisions was a dangerous precedent.
“The suspension of Senator Natasha was an example of this, and now, with this petition, they have done it again,” Ezekwesili said. “The Senate cannot keep using its internal rules as a shield against accountability.”
She called for an independent committee to handle the matter, insisting that the current Ethics Committee was compromised.
The dismissal of the petition marks another chapter in the ongoing controversy surrounding Senator Natasha’s suspension and her allegations against the Senate President, with critics warning that the Senate’s actions undermine public confidence in legislative oversight and due process.
