Olusegun Ariyo
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, says any official probe by security agencies into Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s attendance at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, meeting in New York could bring unnecessary embarrassment to Nigeria.
Falana’s comment is coming following allegations by Senate President Godswill Akpabio that the senator’s actions humiliated the government and people of Nigeria after Akpoti-Uduaghan reported her suspension to the international body.
The female lawmaker had recently accused Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came amid her seating arrangement altercation with the senate president at the red chamber.
Senator Natasha was subsequently suspended from the senate for gross misconduct over the debacle.
She spoke at the IPU meeting on March 11 about the suspension, telling the international body that the action was designed to silence her over the sexual harassment allegations.
The Department of State Services, DSS, and the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, have reportedly launched an investigation into how the Kogi senator attended the IPU meeting in New York without an official nomination.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday, Falana warned that the investigation by security forces risks exposing the country to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule.
“Finally, it is public knowledge that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio had accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of embarrassing the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by reporting her suspension by the senate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
“Contrary to the jaundiced views of the senate leader, it is the official probe of the circumstances of her trip by security forces that will expose Nigeria to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule
“Therefore, the SSS and NIA may study the report of the investigation of our illegal travelling by the Sani Abacha military junta before embarking on the futile attempt to probe senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for having the temerity to externalise the “internal affair of the senate,” Falana said.
