When Nigeria’s third strongest politician was accused of sexual harassment on nationwide tv this yr, a fierce backlash ensued — towards his accuser.
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, considered one of 4 girls in Nigeria’s 109-seat Senate, was suspended for six months with out pay in February. She stated the suspension was punishment for talking out towards Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Nigerian Senate.
Then, offended voters in her constituency in central Nigeria started campaigning to have her eliminated.
The ordeal has highlighted what girls in Nigeria say is the sexism confronted by feminine politicians of their nation, and the dangers of talking out in a nation the place few girls maintain political energy.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and sub-Saharan Africa’s second largest financial system, however it has the bottom illustration of ladies in Parliament on the continent. It ranks within the backside 5 globally.
By a written response despatched by a lawyer, Mr. Akpabio denied Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan’s accusations, and he declined an interview request, citing persevering with authorized proceedings.
“It’s a primary at that degree in Nigeria,” Obiageli Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian minister of training, stated of the accusation towards such a high-ranking official. “However it’s a basic abuse of energy, the place a girl is denied the proper to be heard out,” she added.
Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan, 45, who was elected in 2023, stated that Mr. Akpabio made sexual advances in December of that yr when she and her husband visited Mr. Akpabio’s dwelling. Mr. Akpabio squeezed her hand and advised her, “I’ll make a possibility for us to return right here and have a great second,” she stated.
Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan stated that Mr. Akpabio later invited her to a resort and made lewd remarks within the Senate constructing, together with, “‘You’ll be able to take pleasure in a number of advantages in the event you make me glad.’”
In an interview with The New York Instances, Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan stated she stored rejecting the advances, however didn’t speak about them or file a authorized grievance.
“The second you communicate out on sexual harassment, you’re responsible,” she stated. All through her two senatorial campaigns in 2018 and 2022, Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan confronted repeated online harassment and accusations that she was a prostitute. Such accusations are generally leveled towards girls in Nigerian politics.
“We’re made to bear it, to see it as a part of life,” she added.
Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan stated that final yr, she started avoiding the Senate cafeteria and different areas of the constructing the place she may run into Mr. Akpabio, simply to flee his sexual advances.
In February, Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan stated that her seat had been moved to a distant nook of the Senate with out her consent, and that she was not advised why. She got here out together with her accusations towards Mr. Akpabio on Nigerian tv later that month.
Days after she went public, the Senate’s ethics committee suspended Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, accusing her of unruly habits throughout a dispute over the brand new seating association. It additionally dismissed a sexual harassment petition she filed towards Mr. Akpabio, citing a rule that prohibits victims from submitting their very own complaints. (The petition should be filed by another person on the sufferer’s behalf.)
Because the suspension, Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan has obtained no public help from her three feminine friends. Mr. Akpabio’s spouse has filed a defamation lawsuit.
“Ladies are a part of the identical patronage system as males are in Nigerian politics,” stated Ayomide Ladipo, a Nigerian analyst. “Talking out towards a robust man with a number of sources and political clout makes you danger being blacklisted or victimized.”
Mr. Akpabio, 62, is a detailed ally of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president of Nigeria and chief of the governing All Progressives Congress. Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan is a member of the opposition Folks’s Democratic Get together.
One other feminine public official, Pleasure Nunieh, accused Mr. Akpabio of sexual harassment in 2020. Nigeria’s former vp, Atiku Abubakar, an opponent of Mr. Akpabio, said he had a “behavior of abusing girls.”
Hundreds of supporters rallied on Tuesday when Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan made an impromptu go to to her district in Kogi Central. However even in Kogi Central, practically half of all registered voters signed a petition final week calling for her elimination, simply wanting the 50 % threshold wanted to pressure her out.
No main political occasion has ever nominated a girl as a presidential candidate in Nigeria. The share of feminine lawmakers is below 10 %, in keeping with Invictus Africa, a nonprofit.
Different financial powerhouses on the continent have larger illustration of ladies in politics. In Kenya, 1 / 4 of lawmakers are girls. That fee reaches 40 % in Senegal, and practically 50 % in South Africa. Rwanda has the world’s highest fee of feminine lawmakers, at 61 %.
All have carried out quota techniques in some capability. Nigeria has not.
“Males make you’re feeling like sitting within the Senate is a privilege,” Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan stated. “I’ve earned my seat. A hostile atmosphere to girls units our democracy again.”
Pius Adeleye contributed reporting from Eket, Nigeria.
