Why Senator Natasha’s petition to IPU is dead on arrival – Jimoh Ibrahim

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition to the Inter-Parliamentary Union on her suspension and sexual harassment allegation against Godswill Akpabio is ‘dead on arrival’, Jimoh Ibrahim has said.

Ibrahim, the chairman of the Senate Interparliamentary Committee said Akpoti-Uduaghan’s move to petition the IPU was baseless.

Noting that the Kogi lawmaker is not a member of the union, the former Ondo governorship aspirant said that IPU membership was extended to Nigeria as a country and not Natasha, an individual.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, Ibrahim said a petition can only be lodged at the IPU by a member State against another.

“This implies that the IPU cannot consider petitions from individuals who are not members. The suspended Senator Natasha is not a member of the IPU, but Nigeria is!

“Additionally, the suspended Senator cannot represent the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I served as the interim president of the IPU in Geneva in 2023, and I am familiar with how the IPU operates after presiding over its proceedings,” Ibrahim stated.

He added that as chairman of the committee, he never approved Natasha’s attendance at the IPU meeting on behalf of Nigeria.

“Furthermore, as Chairman of the Interparliamentary Committee in the Nigerian Senate, I did not approve or authorise the suspended Senator Natasha to attend the IPU on behalf of Nigeria to the Senate President,” Ibrahim said.