The leadership of the Nigerian Senate has removed Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, from the country’s delegation to the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), currently being held in New York.
The event, which began on 9 March and will end on 19 March at the United Nations headquarters, focuses on improving access to justice for women and girls and accelerating gender equality. All member states will negotiate the outcome of the session.
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Nigeria, like other member states, is expected to sponsor a delegation to participate in discussions and negotiations during the session. However, there are concerns over the country’s delegation list after one of the female senators initially expected to attend was removed and replaced by a male senator, despite the event focusing on women’s issues.
The issue
On 25 February, during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan complained that she had been sidelined and removed from the list of delegates expected to attend the women’s event at the UN headquarters, even though she had submitted the required documents.
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The senator explained that she was initially invited by the Ministry of Women Affairs to be part of Nigeria’s delegation and was asked to submit the photo page of her international passport.
She said she sent the requested passport details within a few hours, but later received a response from the ministry, stating that she would no longer be attending because the details were submitted late.
When the issue was raised during the committee meeting, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Ireti Kingibe, denied that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan had been removed from the delegation.
Mrs Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), explained that she had initially recommended Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan to the Ministry of Women Affairs after two other female senators, Idiat Adebule (Lagos West) and Ipalibo Banigo (Rivers West), indicated that they were not interested in attending the event.
She assured Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan that she would be included in the delegation, adding that if she did not attend the event, she (Kingibe) would also not attend.
Akpoti-Uduaghan later dropped
Despite the earlier assurances, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan was eventually excluded from the final delegation list.
In a letter dated 5 March addressed to the Kogi senator, Mrs Kingibe explained that the Ministry of Women Affairs had yet to respond to the delegation’s sponsorship request.
However, Mrs Kingibe noted that the Senate had agreed to sponsor her and Ondo Central Senator, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, to attend the women’s event.
“For the sake of clarity, I can confirm that at this stage, only two members of the Senate have been officially nominated by the Senate President and have confirmed registration: myself, in my capacity as Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, and Senator Adegbonmire Adeniyi Ayodele, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters. To the best of my knowledge, we are currently the only Senators whose attendance is finalised and registered,” the letter reads.
She apologised for any inconvenience the development might have caused and urged Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan to join the delegation personally if she already had a valid United States visa.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mrs Kingibe and the Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, to clarify the criteria for selecting delegates and explain why a male senator was included in the delegation to an event focused on women, at a time when Nigerian women are demanding greater political inclusion.
Mrs Kingibe did not respond to calls and messages as of the time of filing this report. Mr Adaramodu’s phone wasn’t connecting.
However, a staff member of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, who requested not to be named for fear of victimisation, told our reporter that the Senate leadership removed Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan from the delegation because of concerns that she might raise controversial issues at the event and potentially tarnish the country’s image.
READ ALSO: Again, furious Akpoti-Uduaghan clashes with another lawmaker over committee meeting
The Kogi senator has not been in the good books of the Senate leadership since her sexual harassment allegation against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Although the Senate leadership has the authority to decide who represents the country at international events, some critics argue that including a male senator at a forum dedicated to women’s issues does not portray Nigeria’s parliament as committed to women’s political inclusion.
Women in Nigeria have long complained about underrepresentation in political leadership and international engagements. Despite commitments by the government to promote gender inclusion, Nigeria remains one of the countries with the lowest female representation in parliament globally.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union ranks Nigeria among the lowest countries in Africa for women’s representation in parliament, with fewer than 5% of seats in the National Assembly held by women.
Some advocates are linking the low representation of women in parliament to Nigeria’s repeated failure to pass gender equality legislation, such as the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill and the Reserved Seats for Women Bill.
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