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Summary
Unlawfully suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has alleged that Senate President Godswill Akpabio sent three individuals to remove her from an IPU meeting in New York, with plans to arrest her upon her return to Nigeria. The Senate has denied her claims, with its spokesman ridiculing her as attention-seeking. However, her allegations highlight broader concerns about the political suppression of women and the attempts to silence female leaders in Nigeria.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in a phone interview on Sunday, Mar. 16, 2025, has stated that Senate President Godswill Akpabio sent three individuals, led by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Nigerian embassy, to forcibly remove her from the United Nations premises following her speech. She further claimed that there were ongoing plans to detain her upon arrival in Abuja.
“I’m aware there are plans underway to arrest me as soon as I arrive in Abuja. The Senate President Akpabio sent three staff members, headed by the Chargè D’Affairs of the Nigerian embassy in New York, to evacuate me from the United Nations premises right after my speech. I was rescued by parliamentarians from other countries and the security,” she said.
The Nigerian Senate, however, has dismissed Senator Natasha’s claims that she faces imminent arrest upon her return from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting in New York.
In response, Senate Spokesman Adeyemi Adaramodu dismissed her allegations, stating that neither the Senate nor Akpabio had any interest in engaging with her. He went further to trivialise her claims, suggesting she was merely seeking attention. “She’s looking for her lost content creation needle in a haystack,” he remarked, accusing her of making reckless statements against Nigeria at the IPU.
Despite her unlawful suspension by the Nigerian Senate, Senator Natasha asserted that her participation in the IPU meeting was legitimate, explaining that she had registered independently.
Senator Natasha’s ongoing case raise serious concerns about the treatment of women in politics, particularly the silencing and intimidation of those who dare to speak out. Nigerian women in leadership have long faced institutional pushback, often met with dismissal or ridicule when they call out power structures that seek to suppress them. The attempt to forcibly remove a female senator from an international political event—if true—would signal a disturbing escalation in efforts to exclude women from critical political spaces.
