From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The chairman of the Senate Interparliamentary Committee, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, has stated that the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) cannot consider the petition allegedly submitted by suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan because it only accepts petitions from member states, not individuals.
He clarified that this means Nigeria, not any individual senator, is the recognised member of the IPU.
“The suspended Senator Natasha is not a member of the IPU, but Nigeria is. A petition can only be lodged against another member state by a member state,” he said.
Ibrahim further noted that Akpoti-Uduaghan, being under suspension, cannot represent Nigeria at the IPU, adding that as Chairman of the Senate Interparliamentary Committee, he did not approve or authorise her attendance at the IPU on behalf of Nigeria.
“I served as the interim president of the IPU in Geneva in 2023, and I am familiar with how the IPU operates after presiding over its proceedings. Furthermore, as Chairman of the Interparliamentary Committee in the Nigerian Senate, I did not approve or authorise the suspended Senator Natasha to attend the IPU on behalf of Nigeria to the Senate President,” he added.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, was suspended by the Senate on March 6, for gross misconduct and failure to adhere to the standing orders of the Senate. She has rejected the suspension, saying she was under persecution for laying a sexual harassment allegation against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
