Newscenter Media News The Chairman of the Senate Committee of Women Affairs, Senator Ireti Kingibe has accused her colleague, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Nduaghan of not following Senate rules.
Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory in the Senate, made the accusation when she appeared on Arise TV on Friday.
It will be recalled that a heated controversy erupted in the Senate over a seating reassignment, pitting Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The drama began when Akpabio reassigned Natasha’s seat, prompting her to refuse to move and accuse the Senate President of denying her privilege. The situation escalated when Natasha raised her hand to speak but was denied recognition because she was not speaking from her newly assigned seat.
Natasha’s outburst led to a unanimous vote by the Senate to refer her to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions for disciplinary review. However, Natasha took her grievances a step further, accusing Akpabio of sexual harassment during an appearance on Arise TV.
Senator Kingibe responded to Natasha’s claims, stating that she doesn’t follow the Senate rules. Kingibe noted that the three other female senators have been silent about the seating arrangement row because they don’t want to say anything negative about Natasha.
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“Silence is golden, especially when one of us is not following the rules, and as women, we did not want to come out publicly to say anything negative about her, and we were hoping all of this will blow over, as a lot of things do,” Kingibe said.
Kingibe emphasized that the Senate is not a place to fight over trivialities like seating arrangements. She also pointed out that Natasha was not the only lawmaker whose seat was moved, and that other lawmakers, including women and men, were also affected by the seating reassignment.
“This is about the rules of the Senate. So if I can point out that other women have been moved several times on that day, I wasn’t there, but I gathered that several men were also moved,” Kingibe said.
Despite acknowledging that the Senate is not gender-friendly, Kingibe noted that the situation has improved over time. She emphasized the importance of following the rules of the institution and urged women to do the same.
“The truth of the matter is, yes, the Senate is not gender-friendly, but it has been improving much better than when we first entered the Senate, I must say… I want women to know we have to follow the rules of the institution we choose to enter, and that is mostly the point of this visit here,” Kingibe said.
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