The Federal Government says it is engaging with the leadership of the National Assembly to broker peace over the recent suspension of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Hajia Imaan Suleiman, disclosed this to State House correspondents during a Meet-the-Press Programme that comes on the heels of the International Women’s Day, IWD, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday.
The minister faulted the sexual harassment allegations in the Senate, calling it “unfortunate” and stressing that such incidents should never occur in the National Assembly.
Consequently, She pledged to engage with the Senate immediately to broker peace and work toward an amicable resolution of the issue.
“It’s an unfortunate incident that should not happen. In the last assembly, we had nine senators that were women.
“We don’t want to be losing any woman member in the Senate or decrease in the numbers.
“We’re going to be brokering peace. We’ll engage all the stakeholders to ensure that they temper justice with mercy,” she said.
Suleiman, who said it will not be good for women to lose any of her members in the senate also emphasized the need to sensitize women in politics, encouraging greater collaboration with their male counterparts.
She stressed that Nigeria must accelerate efforts to increase women’s representation in governance and ensure they have a seat at the table.
Her comments come barely 24 hours after the 10th Senate suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months.
The lawmaker had submitted a petition alleging she had been sexually harassed by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan first raised the alarm on February 28.
However, the Senate dismissed her petition on procedural grounds as the ethics committee recommended her suspension, saying she had brought ridicule to the upper chamber.
Further in her reaction, the Minister said: “We want to increase the numbers. It is unfortunate, we’re going to be brokering peace. We will engage all the stakeholders to ensure that they temper justice with mercy.
“I was at the National Assembly yesterday (Thursday) at the Senate, where they marked International Women’s Day, and the last thing the President of the senate said was that ‘we’re open to broker peace’.
“So, we are going to be intermediary between the two parties to see that we broker peace to reign and we will continue to also sensitize, so that we will like to work better together as women and men.
“It is not a good thing to lose more women in the National Assembly at a time when we are already grossly underrepresented,” she said.
She also highlighted the importance of sensitizing women in politics to foster better collaboration.
Suleiman reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to increasing women’s representation in governance, stating that efforts must be made to ensure women have a stronger voice in decision-making.
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