Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has asserted that probing the attendance of suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in New York will embarrass some top officials of President Bola Tinubu’s administration who were once accused of travelling out of Nigeria to embarrass the defunct military junta of Sani Abacha.
Bellnews recalls that Natasha spoke at the IPU meeting on March 11 about her suspension from the Senate for gross misconduct, stating that the suspension was designed to silence her over the sexual harassment allegations levelled against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Reacting on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, Akpabio stated that the Kogi senator’s actions at the IPU meeting humiliated the government and people of Nigeria.
A report emerged on Sunday, March 16, 2025, that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) have launched a probe into how Natasha attended the IPU meeting in New York without an official nomination.
However, in a statement on Sunday, Falana warned against any official probe by security agencies.
The human rights lawyer said investigating the circumstances of Natasha’s trip by security forces will expose Nigeria to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule.
The statement reads, “Finally, it is public knowledge that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio had accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of embarrassing the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by reporting her suspension by the senate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
“Contrary to the jaundiced views of the senate leader, it is the official probe of the circumstances of her trip by security forces that will expose Nigeria to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule.
“Therefore, the SSS and NIA may study the report of the investigation of our illegal travelling by the Sani Abacha military junta before embarking on the futile attempt to probe senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for having the temerity to externalise the “internal affair of the senate.
“In fact, the probe will particularly embarrass some top officials of the Bola Tinubu administration who were once accused of travelling out of Nigeria to embarrass the defunct military junta.”