Akpabio Vs Natasha: ‘Peace deal’ looms as Tinubu’s minister intervenes

Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim, has pledged to mediate the conflict between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

On Thursday, the Senate suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi State, for six months based on a report from the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct. The committee cited a breach of Senate rules as the reason for her suspension.

Speaking to State House correspondents after a press briefing on International Women’s Day, Ibrahim expressed concern over the situation.

She said, “It’s an unfortunate incident that should not happen, just like you rightly said in the last Assembly we had nine senators that were women. In this Assembly, we have four. We don’t want to be losing any member in the Senate or House of Representatives. We want to increase the numbers.

“It is unfortunate but we’re going to be brokering peace. We will engage all the stakeholders to ensure that they temper justice with mercy. I was at the National Assembly yesterday, 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.’

“We’re going to be intermediary between the two parties to see that we broker peace, for peace to reign and we will continue to also sensitize, so we will like to work better together as women and men.”

Ibrahim emphasized the importance of unity, especially with the low representation of women in the current Senate, stressing her commitment to fostering dialogue and reconciliation between the parties involved.