When Nigeria’s third strongest politician was accused of sexual harassment on nationwide tv this yr, a fierce backlash ensued — in opposition to his accuser.
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, one in all 4 ladies in Nigeria’s 109-seat Senate, was suspended for six months with out pay in February. She mentioned the suspension was punishment for talking out in opposition to Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Nigerian Senate.
Then, indignant voters in her constituency in central Nigeria started campaigning to have her eliminated.
The ordeal has highlighted what ladies 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 ladies maintain political energy.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and sub-Saharan Africa’s second largest economic system, nevertheless it has the bottom illustration of girls 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, mentioned of the accusation in opposition to such a high-ranking official. “But it surely’s a basic abuse of energy, the place a lady is denied the correct to be heard out,” she added.
Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan, 45, who was elected in 2023, mentioned 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 instructed her, “I’ll make a possibility for us to come back right here and have a very good second,” she mentioned.
Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan mentioned that Mr. Akpabio later invited her to a lodge and made lewd remarks within the Senate constructing, together with, “‘You possibly can take pleasure in a number of advantages in the event you make me joyful.’”
In an interview with The New York Instances, Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan mentioned she stored rejecting the advances, however didn’t discuss them or file a authorized criticism.
“The second you converse out on sexual harassment, you’re responsible,” she mentioned. All through her two senatorial campaigns in 2018 and 2022, Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan confronted repeated on-line harassment and accusations that she was a prostitute. Such accusations are generally leveled in opposition to ladies in Nigerian politics.
“We’re made to bear it, to see it as a part of life,” she added.
Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan mentioned that final yr, she started avoiding the Senate cafeteria and different areas of the constructing the place she would possibly run into Mr. Akpabio, simply to flee his sexual advances.
In February, Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan mentioned that her seat had been moved to a distant nook of the Senate with out her consent, and that she was not instructed why. She got here out along with her accusations in opposition to 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 conduct throughout a dispute over the brand new seating association. It additionally dismissed a sexual harassment petition she filed in opposition to Mr. Akpabio, citing a rule that prohibits victims from submitting their very own complaints. (The petition have to 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,” mentioned Ayomide Ladipo, a Nigerian analyst. “Talking out in opposition to a robust man with numerous sources and political clout makes you threat 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 Social gathering.
One other feminine public official, Pleasure Nunieh, accused Mr. Akpabio of sexual harassment in 2020. Nigeria’s former vice chairman, Atiku Abubakar, an opponent of Mr. Akpabio, mentioned he had a “behavior of abusing ladies.”
1000’s 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, almost half of all registered voters signed a petition final week calling for her elimination, simply wanting the 50 p.c threshold wanted to pressure her out.
No main political get together has ever nominated a lady as a presidential candidate in Nigeria. The share of feminine lawmakers is underneath 10 p.c, based on Invictus Africa, a nonprofit.
Different financial powerhouses on the continent have better illustration of girls in politics. In Kenya, 1 / 4 of lawmakers are ladies. That price reaches 40 p.c in Senegal, and almost 50 p.c in South Africa. Rwanda has the world’s highest price of feminine lawmakers, at 61 p.c.
All have applied quota methods in some capability. Nigeria has not.
“Males make you are feeling like sitting within the Senate is a privilege,” Ms. Akpoti-Uduaghan mentioned. “I’ve earned my seat. A hostile surroundings to ladies units our democracy again.”
Pius Adeleye contributed reporting from Eket, Nigeria.
