News
BREAKING: Senate throws out Natasha’s petition *Says, its dead-on arrival!
Even before the ink with which the papers were signed is yet to dry, the Senate, on Wednesday, flung out the petition presented to it by Natasha Akpoti-Udughan on the grounds of procedure, ending what could have been a new chapter in the sex-for favour allegations against Godswill Akpabio, Senate President.
Neda Imasuen, Senate Committee Chairman on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Relations, announced this on Wednesday, hours after the Senate got the petition from Akpoti-Uduaghan before the Senate earlier in the day, after obtaining the permission of the Senate President.
Recall that Imasuen, Labour Party (LP) Senator representing Edo South, had tried to pour cold water on the allegation of sexual harassment, where his Kogi Central colleague gave a graphic account on the alleged attempt by Akpabio to bed her, spoke, while appearing on The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS.
Pushing back against the allegations of sexual misconduct against Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, he had alluded to the usual penchant for members to mix their official duties with a lot of interpersonal, lighthearted conviviality, saying it might have been misunderstood.
His words: “We have four female senators in this assembly, and I am close to three of them. It is a matter of privilege, and I don’t think it is directed at any individual because of sex.
“We joke a lot in the Senate. If you sit in the Senate for four or five months or even a year, you will understand. We see each other every day. If familiarity is what is being considered as some sort of harassment, then I don’t know. But for me, I don’t think that the conduct of the senate president is such that is against the female.”
Regardless, the Edo Senator, who confirmed that his committee had actually brought forward its sitting on the disciplinary matter now facing the Kogi Senator, assured that Akpoti-Uduaghan would get fair hearing from during the sitting on her matter.
But hours after, he told the members of the committee and petitioners, while commenting on the petition of the female Senator from Kogi: “The petition she presented today, is actually dead on arrival. I say that because it runs contrary to Order 40, subsection 4 that no Senator should present to the Senate a petition signed by him or herself. That petition signed by her will not be entertained by this committee.
“So, ladies and gentlemen, she’s not here and I can understand why she is not here – she’s probably not here on the orders of her lawyers. That being the case, the committee will sit and will deliberate on what we’ve gotten by distinguished Senators that have presented their cases before us and the Sergeant at Arms and based on our Rule Books and all other documents available to us to make a decision here and make a referral to the full Senate.”
Earlier on Wednesday, after the presentation of the petition, commotion had ensued as the matter took a different twist when Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Munguno, contested the validity of the petition based on procedural grounds.
Citing Order 40(4) of the Senate rules, Munguno asserted that any contravention of established procedures is a recipe for “chaos and anarchy.” He argued that the petition was procedurally flawed since Senate rules prohibit a senator from personally signing and submitting their own petition. “Senator Natasha had signed her own petition, rendering it invalid,” Munguno declared.
In response, Akpoti-Uduaghan insisted that her legal case has nothing to do with sexual harassment but instead focused on derogatory and defamatory remarks made about her dressing. She invoked Order 10, which allows any senator to rise and speak at any time, and maintained that her petition should be considered.
Former Senate Leader, Abdullahi Adamu, who stepped in to calm frayed nerves and douse tensions, suggested that since Akpabio had already accepted the petition, it should be referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct for review.
However, his suggestion further escalated ruckus, leading to a flurry of points of order and a brief commotion in the chamber.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele lent credence to those pushing for the rejection of the petition, insisting that no senator can author and sign their own petition. He also pointed out that the matter was already before the courts, as Akpabio’s wife had initiated legal proceedings, making it sub judice and beyond the Senate’s jurisdiction.
“Mr. President, I sympathize with you as a man being accused of sexual harassment,” Bamidele said. “However, we must be guided by the Constitution and our Rule Book, not emotions. You accepted the petition based on emotion, but we must uphold due process.”
In his defense, Akpabio clarified that his decision to accept the petition was not because he was oblivious to the for Senate rules but rather to avoid any public perception that he was deliberately silencing Akpoti-Uduaghan because he was implicated in the matter.
“I took that petition because I didn’t want people who don’t understand our rules to think I was deliberately silencing her,” Akpabio explained.
Despite attempts to call for a closed-door session, Akpabio ruled that plenary should continue. In the end, the Senate upheld the argument of the Senate Leader and rejected the petition, putting the controversial matter to bed in the legislative chamber.
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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