The Nigerian government has stepped into the ongoing dispute between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, seeking a resolution following her suspension from the Senate.
President Bola Tinubu’s Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Iman Suleiman-Ibrahim, confirmed the intervention, stating that negotiations are underway with the leadership of the National Assembly.
“We’re engaging all the stakeholders to ensure that they temper justice with mercy,” Suleiman-Ibrahim told State House correspondents during a Meet-the-Press Programme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister’s remarks come after the 10th Senate suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, for six months.
The suspension followed her petition alleging that she had been sexually harassed by Akpabio.
Describing the situation as unfortunate, Suleiman-Ibrahim stressed the importance of retaining female representation in the Senate. “It’s an unfortunate incident that should not happen. In the last assembly, we had nine senators that were women. We don’t want to lose any woman member in the Senate or decrease in the numbers,” she said.
The minister affirmed that the government is committed to finding a peaceful resolution. “We’re going to be brokering peace. We’ll engage all the stakeholders to ensure that they temper justice with mercy,” she added.
Suleiman-Ibrahim expressed confidence in the willingness of the Senate President to engage in dialogue. “I was at the National Assembly yesterday, at the Senate where we marked the International Women’s Day. The last thing the Senate president said was that ‘we’re open to broker peace.'”
