By Vincent Oyefeso
I am persuaded that even if Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegation of sexual harassment against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, were true, her overall manner of trying to address the issue so far is faulty while the proceedings and decisions of the Senate on the allied issues are in line with established rules of Senate business and natural justice.
An allegation of sexual harassment belatedly tabled before the Senate should not becloud the established rules of engagement on the floor of the Senate of the Federal Republic.
Let’s note that the issue primarily before the Senate was the alleged misconduct of Senator Natasha over rearrangement of seats which conduct of hers was said to violate Senate standing orders. That was the matter referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions for detailed appraisal. Rather than address the issue before the Committee as it affected her while also raising the issue of her alleged sexual harassment for hearing via proper channels, the Senator chose to digress by going to the media to raise allegations of sexual harassment without properly placing her grievance before the august body of lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the Senate rules do not allow deliberation on a matter not properly placed before it. It was not until this was pointed out before Senator Natasha, rather as an afterthought, sought to submit her petition before the Senate, and in doing so, she allegedly failed to observe due diligence on Senate rules of submission of petitions. Besides, even if her petition had been properly submitted, the petition at the time of submission had become subjudice because her allegation against the Senate President was already before a Court of competent jurisdiction, with the implication that the Senate is estopped or legally barred from entertaining the matter until the legal action is disposed of.
Meanwhile, Senator Natasha continued to play to the gallery of sheer public sentiments by ignoring the matter of her alleged disregard of the rules of Senate on sitting arrangement or rearrangement on the floor of Senate, which was pending before the Ethics Committee. Worse still, she reportedly refused to take advantage of her opportunity for fair hearing by not appearing before the Committee to defend herself, thereby further exhibiting utter disregard for the Senate Committee, a conduct that ipso facto, is tantamount to disregard for the whole Senate. Little wonder, she was suspended in line with the rules of the august lawmaking body.
As earlier pointed out, the Senate as the upper legislative arm of the National Assembly is not yet in a position to deliberate on her sexual harassment allegation. When the lawmakers get to that bridge, of course they will cross it.
Until then, there is no rationale basis for insinuating Senate gang-up against Senator Natasha simply because she is a woman or merely in solidarity with the Senate President; that is a stereotype and baseless sentiment which is the popular tendency on sexual matters. Worse still, it is utterly uncalled for to insinuate or demand that, for the Senate President not to preside over a matter in his own cause, he ought to have stepped down or aside, simply because this scenario is yet to arise. When the petition comes up for formal deliberation at the Senate, then the appropriate Senate rules on conflict of interest would apply; then and only then will it be mandatory for Senator Akpabio to vacate the exalted seat of Senate President, even if temporarily, to enable fair hearing on the allegation of sexual harassment which circumstances do not yet allow to be properly placed for deliberation before the Senate of the Federal Republic.
Further more, a rule of justice demands that if a party is willing to submit to a part of the rules of engagement of a public establishment in a bid to seek redress in his/her own cause; the concerned party is equally bound to submit to relevant rules of engagement of the establishment on other issues that affect him/her. Hence, Senator Natasha cannot approbate and reprobate by being disrespectful of Senate standing orders on sitting arrangement while in another instance she is seeking for redress on her alleged sexual harassment under another section of Senate rules. Consequently, she cannot be said to be acting in good faith in all materials particular on the issues under reference.
The Moral:
As a matter of facts and law, the truth or otherwise of Senator Natasha’s allegation of sexual harassment against the Senate President is inchoate, hence, it cannot be dismissed or affirmed yet, neither does either party stand commended or condemned as a hero/heroin or villain currently. That truth will subsequently be established via the Court or a Senate probe or both in due course.
However, presuming that Senator Natasha’s allegation were true and subsequently so established, her present precipitate attitude of going about her cause in a manner that is disregardful of the rules of engagement in the Senate does not satisfy all righteousness befitting of a Senator that subscribes to the hallowed tenets of proper conduct on the floor of the Senate that she prides herself as a Senator of. If she does not have the temperament of level-headedness and decorum in a challenging situation, such flippancy cannot but detract from the value of her just cause on the long run, if indeed she does have a just cause.
The Yoruba have an adage that beautifully captures this scenario, and I quote: “Ejo la nko, a kii koja”. Properly interpreted, it means: to stand vindicated, the wise must not be hasty to plunge into a blind fight but learn and maximise the best practices of proper advocacy for establishing his or her just cause.
Otherwise, the fact that you have a just cause may be insufficient to secure you the full dividends of justice if you mess it up with indecorous or inappropriate conduct which may detract from the benefits of your locus standi ab initio.
The foregoing is my considered and dispassionate opinion on the rather volatile issues.
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