Aliyu Bello, president of the Nasarawa All Progressive Assembly (APC), expressed appreciation to the Senate for their suspension of embattled Senator Natasha Akpoti-uduaghan for six months.
He believes the move is consistent with the legislative process and should not be interpreted as gender bias.
Bello, speaking through a submission titled “Akpabio, Natasha and the Senate: A question, not gender”, believes that the suspension of Akpoti-uduaghan is a matter of enforcing legislative order rather than discrimination.
He pointed to past instances where male senators face similar disciplinary action, including a 90-day moratorium on Ovie Omo-agege (APC, Delta Central) in 2018 and a 2023 moratorium on budget fill allegations.
“The Nigerian Senate has a well-documented history of suspended members (Male and women) who violate their rules.
“So why should Senator Akpoti-uduaghan’s case be formed in different ways?” He said.
He further argued that equating her suspension with gender marginalization is the danger of substantial struggle.
According to him,The Senate’s discipline mechanism is gender-blind, giving institutional integrity priority over individual identity. ”
Bello stressed that in the Senate, which consists of 109 lawmakers, there are no members, including members of the Akputi-Udoahan party, who opposed the moratorium.
He insisted that the unified implementation of parliamentary rules was key to maintaining order, urging advocates of gender equality to focus on systemic barriers rather than isolated cases.
