Attempts by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to hear the testimonies of a petitioner in Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s case on Tuesday ended in a stalemate.
Recall that Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is serving a six-month suspension from the Senate, had accused the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, of sexual harassment.
The petitioner, Zuberu Yakubu, who appeared before the Senate committee, declined to testify, accusing the committee members of bias.
Speaking with journalists after the botched hearing, Yakubu said his testimony would not be meaningful in the absence of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who has been barred from coming close to the National Assembly complex.
According to him, the committee members had already taken a position on the matter by declaring the petition “dead on arrival.”
The petitioner was accompanied by his lawyer, Dr. Abiola Akiyode and a former Education Minister, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili.
Akiyode and Ezekwesili also adopted the petitioner’s line of argument, dismissing the hearing as fruitless and time-wasting.
They pointed out that the Senate and the committee had effectively dismissed the petition with their position that the matter was already in court and as such, “dead on arrival.”
The chairman of the Senate committee, Neda Imasuen and Senator and other members were not enthusiastic about the hearing.
It was apparent the lawmakers did not expect the petitioner to respond to the committee’s invitation, a situation that would have led them to declare him “a ghost petitioner.”
Petitioner Snubs Senate Panel On Akpabio-Natasha Clash is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
