In the hallowed chamber of Nigeria’s Senate, where laws should be shaped in reason and justice, an ugly spectacle is unfolding. It is not the debate of ideas, not the clash of principles, not the contest of visions for a troubled nation. No, what Nigerians are being subjected to is the grotesque theater of impunity, orchestrated by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who has reduced the red chamber into a personal fiefdom of intimidation, harassment, and brazen violence against women. What Nigeria is witnessing in the Senate today is not just a political dispute; it is the weaponization of power against a woman – Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan – who dared to say “No” to Akpabio’s sexual advances. The chamber has become less a house of honor than a hunting ground where power stalks dignity, and where the gavel is wielded not to protect the constitution, or defend democracy, but to crush it beneath the weight of ego and lust. By bending the Senate rules into weapons, Akpabio mocks the constitution, sneers at the courts, and spits in the face of democracy itself. Nigerians must not look away. The Senate must not become a predator’s playground.
Senator Natasha, representing Kogi Central, had the courage to say “No” to the sexual advances of Akpabio. For this refusal, Akpabio unleashed the full weight of his office to crush her for daring to resist his advances. Suspended for six months on trumped-up charges of misconduct, Natasha endured the ordeal with courage. That unlawful punishment – already denounced by the Federal High Court as excessive and unconstitutional – ought to have ended on September 4, 2025. By the plain text of Senate resolution, her suspension had lapsed, and she was entitled to resume work for the people who elected her. But instead of welcoming her back, Akpabio has conspired with the National Assembly Clerk to twist technicalities into chains. In a cynical letter dripping with cowardice, the Acting Clerk said Natasha’s reinstatement must wait until an appeal lodged by Akpabio himself is resolved. Imagine the brazenness: the jailer arguing that the prisoner must wait indefinitely for freedom, while he himself holds the key. This is not democracy. It is persecution by technicality, harassment by paperwork, and the calculated erasure of a woman’s voice.
Senator Natasha’s “crime” was not corruption, nor dereliction of duty. Her only offense was the courage to say No. No to sexual advances disguised as patronage. No to late-night phone calls dripping with blackmail. No to a predator in high office who mistook his position as license to conquer women. For this refusal, Akpabio wielded his gavel like a cudgel, suspending her for six months on manufactured charges. The Federal High Court called that punishment excessive and unconstitutional. But law, in Akpabio’s Senate, is no shield; only a weapon in the hand of the oppressor. This is bigger than Natasha. It is a test of Nigeria’s soul. If a Senate President can suspend, silence, and now attempt to permanently bar a woman for refusing his advances, then the chamber of democracy has become a chamber of shame. This is not due process. It is persecution by bureaucracy. It is a deliberate attempt to silence an elected senator and deny her constituents representation. It is the grotesque abuse of procedure to enshrine personal vendetta.
Let us be clear: this is violence against women, plain and simple. It is political stoning, dressed in the robes of legality. It is the message to every Nigerian woman in politics that dignity has a price, and refusal to yield makes you a target for annihilation. Natasha’s ordeal is not hers alone; it is the collective burden of every woman who has dreamed of rising in Nigeria’s politics without being forced to pay tolls of humiliation at the gates of power. The PDP has called this what it is: a crude attempt to silence an opposition voice and deny a senatorial district its representation. But the rot is deeper. This is not about opposition politics. This is about whether Nigeria’s Senate is still a parliament or a predator’s playground. Whether the red chamber is still a sanctuary of law, or simply a red-light district where power licenses harassment and rejection invites destruction.
And let us not pretend Akpabio’s name is new to such allegations. From his days as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Nigerians heard the courageous testimony of Joy Nunieh, who accused him of harassment, intimidation, and corruption cover-ups. She resisted, and she paid the price. Today, Natasha resists, and she too is paying. The pattern is unmistakable: Akpabio has climbed the ladder of power not in spite of predation, but because Nigeria has allowed predation to masquerade as politics. Every silence from colleagues, every shrug from institutions, every failure to hold him accountable has only emboldened him. And now, he sits at the peak of lawmaking, desecrating its very core.
What makes this more grotesque is the silence of the Senate itself. The cowardice of his colleagues, especially the women among them, echoes louder than Akpabio’s gavel. Their refusal to stand with Natasha is complicity; their silence is betrayal. If solidarity cannot be found in the chamber of lawmakers, where then can the oppressed find allies? When the women who should stand as sentinels choose silence for fear of political backlash, they reinforce the very culture that feeds on their own personal vulnerabilities as acquisition challenges for sexual predators like Akpabio.
Akpabio’s reign of impunity is not just an insult to Natasha. It is an insult to every Nigerian woman who has ever been told that dignity is a liability. It is an insult to every man who believes politics should be nobler than predation. It is an insult to the constitution itself, which guarantees representation but is now twisted into a bludgeon against the people. His manipulations spit in the face of justice, trample on the sacred right of constituents, and reduce democracy to a charade where the predator writes the rules. This cannot stand. The Senate must not be reduced to a shrine of shame, where predators are enthroned and victims are crucified. Civil society must rise. Women’s movements must refuse silence. The international community must bear witness. Akpabio cannot be allowed to remain judge and jury in his own case. He must step aside, and an independent investigation must be launched. To do anything less is to sanctify misogyny as official Senate policy.
The path is clear: the cowardly letter from the Clerk must be withdrawn. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan must be reinstated – immediately and unconditionally. And Akpabio, whose hands reek of harassment and vindictiveness, must be compelled to step down from the exalted seat he has desecrated. If Nigeria allows this travesty to continue, it sends a chilling message: that the Senate is not a chamber of law, but a lion’s den where women enter at their peril. We are at a crossroads. Will Nigerians tolerate this tyranny of lust masquerading as leadership? Will we allow the predator’s gavel to dictate the fate of democracy? Or will we demand a Senate that is not a sanctuary for bullies but a citadel of justice? Enough is enough. Natasha must return. Akpabio must go. The Senate must cleanse itself, or sink forever into the sewage of shame. Nigeria must decide: shall we have a Senate of the people, or a Senate of predators? The time for hesitation is over. The answer must be thunderous.
