To be discussing inappropriate, unrequited and not too clear love tangos between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi State Central Senatorial District and the raucous session in the Senate is a waste of precious time.

Except for the need to look out for the interests of females in Nigeria’s political and corporate “jungle”. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was once reported to have told whoever to “Please stop turning off my microphone. I represent people, including women who have been silenced.”

The nonsense going on in the Nigerian Senate makes one wish that Amaka Igwe would resurrect, write a script and gather Kunle Bamtefa and the cast of “Fuji House of Commotion” for another sitcom, “Senate House of Commotion”.

How else, other than comedy, should one describe the abandonment of serious affairs of state for frivolities by the Senate President, Nigeria’s number three citizen, and a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, engaging in fare other than the serious affairs of state for which senators are rumoured to be paid about N353m per annum.

 

How what the Yoruba describe as, “Aa yan ore, aa yan ore,” or the tango over whether people want to date each other or not, has become a matter that is engaging the entire attention of the Nigerian Senate, and almost grinding serious legislative work to a halt, is baffling and regrettable.

Order 11(1,2) of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended) provides in plain English, “The President of the Senate shall allocate a seat to each Senator (and) a Senator may only speak from the seat allocated to him (or her), provided that the President of the Senate may change the allocation from time to time.”

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was obviously uncomfortable because the new seating arrangement that arose due to new party realignments was not communicated to her, naturally made her feelings known to the Senate President.

But when she did not get what she would consider to be an appropriate response, she took the matter to Gear 5. She submitted a petition, “directed at… Senator Akpabio… requesting the (Senate) distinguished redress on the matter”, to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.

The grounds of the petition were “Reprehensible acts of sexual harassment… (and) deliberate obstruction of legislative efforts”. She listed two occasions, one in Akwa Ibom, when Akpabio allegedly asked her for “quality moments”, and the other, in Abuja, when he allegedly told her he would give her whatever she wanted and all she had to do was to “make me happy”.

The only person who could substantiate at least the Akwa Ibom incident was Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s husband, Emmanuel Uduaghan. But she admitted to having deflected her husband’s request to know what Senator Akpabio said to her.

She added, “During a debate in the Senate, (Akpabio) maliciously addressed me inappropriately, referring to me as a nightclub girl.” She prayed the committee to “request a comprehensive investigation into the actions of (Akpabio)”.

However, Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Peter Nwanonyi, thought that the beef of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who worked in Brass LNG, by the way, stemmed from her removal from the Senate Committee on Oil & Gas.

Well, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition includes allegations that Senator Akpabio “abruptly removed me as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Local Content… limiting my involvement in the LNG project” in Ajaokuta, in her home state, Kogi.

Rather than address the issues raised by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, the committee stood on the technical grounds that the way she handled the petition did not conform with the rules of the Nigerian Senate.

According to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Neda Imasuen, the petition was “dead on arrival” because Order 41(b) says, “No Senator may present to the Senate a petition signed by himself (or herself).”  Also, Section 41(7) provides that “The Senate shall not receive any petition on any matter for which there is a judicial remedy.”

 

But Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan stood on Order 41(1) which enables a petition “to be presented to the Senate by a senator, who shall affix his (or her) name at the beginning thereof,” and got a six-month suspension from a Senate plenary.

The Senate plenary, inappropriately chaired by the Senate President, who is the defendant, chose to discuss the matter after an unconvincing debate, probably stage-managed to make the Senate appear to be liberal and unperturbed by the grave allegations.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had taken the matter to the law courts that seem to be on a recess from taking up the responsibilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare who won or lost elections in Nigeria.

But she is not suing Senator Akpabio based on the content of her petition, but for statements allegedly made on Facebook by his legislative aide, Mfon Patrick, to wit, “Is Local Content Committee of the Senate Natasha’s birthright?”

Patrick allegedly added, “It is bottled anger of the Kogi lawmaker, who knows nothing about legislative rules. She thinks being a lawmaker is all about pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the chambers.”

Only the courts can determine if this amounts to defamation and intent to cause Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan public opprobrium. But whatever cosmetics or garments Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan adorns her body with is not the business of Patrick.

The court should answer her prayer by issuing “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants (or anyone else)… from further publishing, or cause to be published, the said defamatory words… about (her) on the social media platform, or in any other manner, which is capable of defaming (her).” Maybe she should also sue Patrick on relevant cybercrime grounds.

Senator Akpabio’s wife, Ekaete, has gone to court to sue Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for N350bn on the grounds that the allegation of sexual harassment made against her husband amounted to emotional and psychological abuse of her children and herself. Only the courts can determine if this is frivolous.

And what looks like opposing rented crowds stormed the streets of Abuja in support of one or the other senator. When interviewed by pressmen, some of the ignorant protesters could not even correctly articulate the issues.

Those who wonder if Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, a lawyer, is conversant with the rules of the Senate, should remember the Rivonia Trials, where Nelson Mandela, also a lawyer, chose to put South Africa’s apartheid regime on trial in the court of public opinion rather than defend himself.

But those stretching the matter of reallocation of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s seat to Rosa Parks proportions are probably not quite accurate, though Senator Ireti Kingibe has pointed out that the Nigerian Senate is not exactly gender-sensitive.

Those who wonder why it appears as if issues of sexual harassment seem to be revolving around these two senators deserve answers. Senator Akpabio was once accused of sexually harassing a former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission.

On the other hand, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is said to have previously accused three other men, a former state governor, a former sitting senator from her state, and a former presidential aide from her husband’s state, of sexually harassing her.

Both must extricate themselves and the Senate from this web of scandals and concentrate on the urgent and grave matters of state.