As a stark illustration of institutional persecution, Dayo Ekong, the Lagos State Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), denounced the suspension of Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
According to Ekong, the Senate decided to silence Akpoti-Uduaghan rather than look into her claims of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, calling the choice a “grotesque perversion of justice.”
“The action reveals a culture that prioritizes protecting those in power while stifling the voices of victims, especially women,” she cautioned.
Ekong believes that the decision to suspend Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months after she accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment is an obvious act of tyranny.
After Akpoti-Uduaghan rejected Akpabio, she accused him of denying her certain privileges and making unwanted sexual approaches.
She officially complained to the Senate Ethics Committee, which disregarded her petition and suspended her rather than investigating her charges.
In a statement, Ekong conveyed her shock at the state of affairs and emphasized that an unsafe precedent is set when a female senator is silenced for speaking out against harassment.
“As the Chairman of the Lagos State Labour Party, I express my grief and indignation at the egregious injustice taking place in our National Assembly,” she added. Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who bravely accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment, has been suspended for six months—not because her claims are being looked into, but because she dared to make them.
The senator was punished for allegedly bringing the chamber into disgrace, but she also chastised the Senate Ethics Committee for dismissing the petition on procedural grounds.
“She was disciplined for ‘ridiculing’ the Senate after the Ethics Committee rejected her petition on procedural grounds. According to the LP Chair, this is a hideous perversion of justice, not justice itself.
Ekong further criticized the suspension’s wider ramifications, contending that regular Nigerian women who experience harassment at work and in their daily lives have an even lower chance of being heard if a sitting female senator can be silenced in this way.
“What does this say for regular Nigerian women if a sitting senator—one of just four women in a Senate of 109—can be silenced, suspended, and permanently removed from her office for demanding accountability? The student bullied by teachers, the market vendor harassed by the police, the domestic worker mistreated without a voice?
She wasn’t shy about calling out the structural obstacles that shield the strong while placing the weak at risk.
The acts of the Senate reveal a terrifying reality: our institutions safeguard power, not individuals. Senator Uduaghan’s marginalization has revealed the systemic misogyny that silences women and gives predators more confidence.
Those who backed the suspension were also criticized by Ekong, who warned that history would not be kind to them.
It is evident that the members who supported this suspension were complicit. History will not pardon the decision to use process as a weapon against advancement, even when we acknowledge the pressures of fear and allegiance.
She maintained that the Senate’s decision to reduce the number of women from four to three is an assault on democracy and gender equality, not merely a political spin.
“It is an attack on democracy itself to reduce the number of female senators from four to three in a country where women face daily humiliations.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension is indicative of the larger fight women confront against oppression, Ekong said, reaffirming her party’s steadfast support for her and her fight for justice.
Myself and the whole Lagos State Labour Party working committee firmly support Senator Uduaghan’s commitment to carrying out her “pursuit for justice.” Her suspension is not just a political one; it is a representation of the injustice that all women endure when they are silenced.
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By demanding accountability and openness in the treatment of such issues, she asked Nigerians to stand up to this injustice.
We urge people to expect better. Investigate openly, we advise institutions. To the powerful, we say: whether you promote equity or exacerbate injustice will determine your legacy.
Ekong called on all Nigerians to oppose a system that shields offenders while penalizing victims, restating the Labour Party’s disapproval of the suspension.
“This flagrant disrespect for accountability and gender equality is denounced by the Lagos State Labour Party. A system that protects the powerful while punishing the victim is something we urge all Nigerians to oppose. To address this injustice, we must all speak up. “A system must be established that ensures no woman, be it a student or a senator, is silenced again,” she said.
