Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has countered Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claim that her seat reassignment in the Senate was a deliberate move to frustrate her legislative duties.
The controversy erupted when Senate President Godswill Akpabio reassigned Senator Natasha’s seat.
Her refusal to move to the designated seat led to a dramatic standoff during plenary, culminating in the Senate voting to refer her to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions for disciplinary review.
While appearing on Arise TV on Friday, February 28, 2025, Natasha alleged that the seating arrangement was a scheme against her and further accused Akpabio of sexual harassment, claiming he had twice demanded an intimate relationship from her.
Responding to Natasha’s claims, Senator Kingibe, in a separate appearance on Arise TV, criticized the Kogi lawmaker for disregarding Senate procedures.
“Silence is golden, especially when one of us is not following the rules, and as women, we did not want to come out publicly to say anything negative about her, and we were hoping all of this will blow over, as a lot of things do,” Kingibe stated.
She dismissed Natasha’s complaint about the seating arrangement, arguing that other senators, including women, were also affected.
“This is about the rules of the Senate. So if I can point out that other women have been moved several times on that day, I wasn’t there, but I gathered that several men were also moved,” she said.
The Labour Party senator, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, acknowledged that the Senate is not entirely gender-friendly but noted that the situation has improved.
“The truth of the matter is, yes, the Senate is not gender-friendly, but it has been improving much better than when we first entered the Senate, I must say. And the truth of the matter is, when we make a fuss and draw the attention of the Senate president, he corrects it. Truly, the Senate can do better than he’s doing, but there’s hardly anything that’s been done to us that’s not done to other men,” she added.
Kingibe urged women in politics to respect institutional rules, stating, “I want women to know we have to follow the rules of the institution we choose to enter, and that is mostly the point of this visit here.”
