IPU can’t act on Natasha’s petition – Jimoh Ibrahim

The Chairman of the Senate Interparliamentary Committee, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, has slammed the suspended senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, saying her petition at the Inter-Parliamentary Union is ‘dead on arrival.’

The former Ondo governorship aspirant disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday.

Akpoti-Uduaghan had escalated her dispute with Akpabio, presenting her case at a United Nations forum, International Parliamentary Union, alleging political victimisation.

She was suspended on March 6 after a heated confrontation with the Senate leadership over a new seating arrangement, which she claimed was designed to undermine her.

Tensions intensified when Akpoti-Uduaghan, on national television, accused Akpabio of punishing her for rejecting his alleged sexual advances.

Speaking at the Women in Parliament session during the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting at the United Nations in New York, Akpoti-Uduaghan called for international intervention to hold the Nigerian Senate accountable.

But Ibrahim argued that her move was baseless as she was not a member of the union.

According to him, IPU membership was extended to Nigeria as a country and not Natasha.

He said, “A petition can only be lodged against another member state by a member state. This implies that the IPU cannot consider petitions from individuals who are not members. The suspended Senator Natasha is not a member of the IPU, but Nigeria is!

“Additionally, the suspended Senator cannot represent the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I served as the interim president of the IPU in Geneva in 2023, and I am familiar with how the IPU operates after presiding over its proceedings.

“Furthermore, as Chairman of the Interparliamentary Committee in the Nigerian Senate, I did not approve or authorise the suspended Senator Natasha to attend the IPU on behalf of Nigeria to the Senate President.”