A Nigerian senator told the BBC that she had only learned that the government was pursuing it “to the news” and that it was “shocked” by the action taken against it.
The government has deposited accusations of defamation against Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan after accused one of the best politicians in the country of plotting to kill it.
In April, Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly alleged that the president of the Senate Godswill Akpabio and the former state governor Yahaya Bell wanted to “eliminate” it. The two denied this accusation.
She had already accused Akpabio of having sexually harassed her – an allegation he also denied.
After learning the accusations against her, Akpoti-Uduaghan told the BBC: “I’m actually shocked. My first reaction when I read that she is out of shock, because I was not served [with papers] So far. I had to read it on the news. “”
A spokesperson for the President of the Senate said they had “evidence beyond reasonable doubts” that she had received the court documents.
He added that he hoped that Kpoti-Uduaghan would take advantage of the next hearing of the court to prove his allegations.
In the accusation sheet, seen by the BBC, the Attorney General of Nigeria referred to a live interview broadcast by the TV channels of Nigeria last month.
Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly allegedly in the interview that there were “discussions that Kpabio had with Yahaya Bello … to eliminate me”.
The Attorney General said that this declaration, and others made in the same dissemination, could affect the reputation of Bello and Akpabio.
But Akpoti-Uduaghan supports its allegation. She said that she even went to the police with the accusation that Akpabio and Bello had threatened her life.
“Do you understand the twist? I was the one who ran to the police. I did my petitions, I appeared on television, I spoke publicly about the threat to my life,” she said.
“Instead, it is the president of the Senate and [former] The counter-petition of Governor Yahaya Bello, who is the one who defamed them, who is taken into account. “”
Akpoti-Uduaghan said the charges were an attempt to “intimidate” it and “fall” after accused Akabio of sexual harassment in February.
“It is an evil that was standardized in society-sexual harassment. But here, I am talking about it … It was my first offense. Natasha is not supposed to speak of it. I am supposed to bear it as a woman,” she told the BBC.
The charges mark the last consecutive turn that absorbed Nigeria, raising questions about gender equality in the socially conservative nation.
Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of the four women out of 109 senators.
After accusing Akabio of sexual harassment, she was suspended in the Senate for six months without salary.
The Senate’s ethics committee said the suspension concerned its “unruly and disruptive” behavior while the Senate debated its allegations.
However, Akpoti-Uduaghan and his supporters argued that the committee aimed at the allegations it had made against the president of the Senate.
No date has been set to compare to the court.
Additional report by the week Friday and God is not obedically in Lagos
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