Imaan Suleiman, the minister of women affairs and social welfare, says she is prepared to step in on the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central in the senate.
Following an altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio about seating arrangements, which resulted in the senator accusing the head of the red chamber of sexual harassment, the Senate suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months on Thursday.
The minister apologised for the senate’s sexual harassment accusation, calling it “unfortunate,” in an interview with State House media on Friday.
“Such incidents should not have occurred in the national assembly,” she said. To promote reconciliation and find a peaceful solution, she mentioned that her ministry will work with the Senate.
“We don’t want to be losing any member in the senate or house of assembly. We want to increase the numbers. It is unfortunate,” Suleiman said.
“We’re going to be brokering peace. We will engage all the stakeholders to ensure that they temper justice with mercy.”
She noted that during her visit to the national assembly on Thursday, Akpabio said the senate “was open to broker peace”.
Suleiman added that Nigeria must accelerate efforts to increase women’s representation in governance and ensure they have a seat at the table.
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“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,” she added.
“So, we’re going to be intermediaries between the two parties to see that we broker for peace to reign, and we will continue to also sensitise so that we would like to work better together as women and men.”
