Falana Warns: Probing Natasha's Attendance Could Backfire on Tinubu's Officials

Security agencies are being warned by human rights attorney Femi Falana (SAN) not to look into Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan's attendance at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting in New York because doing so could embarrass important members of President Bola Tinubu's administration.

Falana's remarks come after rumors circulated that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS) had opened an investigation into the Kogi senator's attendance at the IPU meeting without a formal nomination.

Akpoti-Uduaghan's recent suspension from the Nigerian Senate, which she disclosed at the international conference, is the source of the controversy. She was accused by Senate President Godswill Akpabio of embarrassing the administration by bringing up the IPU issue. However, the senator asserted that her suspension was a form of reprisal for the sexual harassment allegations made against Akpabio.

Falana rejected the investigation in a statement released on Sunday, calling it a pointless effort that may subject Nigeria to "needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule."

"Lastly, it is well known that Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of bringing disgrace to the Federal Republic of Nigeria's government and people by informing the Inter-Parliamentary Union about her suspension by the Senate," he said.

"The official investigation of the circumstances of her trip by security forces will expose Nigeria to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule, despite the senate leader's jaded opinions."

Therefore, before making the pointless effort to question Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for having the audacity to externalize the "internal affair of the Senate," the SSS and NIA may review the report of the Sani Abacha military junta's investigation into our unlawful travel.

In fact, certain high-ranking officials of the Bola Tinubu administration who were previously charged with leaving Nigeria to humiliate the now-defunct military dictatorship will be especially embarrassed by the investigation.