The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has berated the Senate for not giving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan ample time to present her sexual harassment complaint against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Chairperson of the NBA Women Forum, Huwaila Muhammad, queried the manner in which the matter was handled.
She stated that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, which is a build up on the dispute between her and Akpabio, might not have been the right decision to take in the interest of justice.
Stressing that in the interest of justice, she deserved fair hearing before such decision should have been taken.
She said: “To start with I will say on the suspension, we are all lawyers and would like to see fairness across board. We know the allegation is very big and he who asserts must prove so we will want her to prove the allegations and we expect fairness in it.
“I see her suspension as a kind of intimidation; you cannot be a judge in your own court. If something affects you, slide by the side and let justice take its course because we need to see fairness.
‘’We as citizens we would like to see a fair level ground for everybody. She is alleging and proving and peradventure she is unable to prove what she has alleged, she knows what would come to her. We are in a democracy, suspension is not the answer.’’
Speaking further, Muhammad noted, “The question here is: Did the committee call her before suspending her? Did she refuse to come? Did she send a representation? If she was not called then what was the yard stick used in suspending her and if she was called and she refused to go that will be very wrong of her because she was called to prove her innocence and her refusing to honour the invite will be wrong.
‘’ Those who suspended her should know there are people out there watching and we all want justice because as far as we are concerned, the Senate is a sacred place and what is happening right now should not be happening.’’
