The Nigerian Senate was thrown into yet another storm on February 20, 2025, when Senate President Godswill Akpabio clashed with Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan in a confrontation that went far beyond a simple seating arrangement. What started as a dispute over a reassigned seat quickly unraveled into a deeper, more troubling spectacle one that laid bare the fragile power dynamics, the silencing of dissent, and the gendered politics of Nigeria’s legislative chamber.
Akpoti-Uduaghan arrived to find her designated seat had been reassigned without prior notice. She demanded an explanation. Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Ali Monguno, citing Senate Standing Orders, claimed that the Senate President has the authority to assign seats at his discretion. But was this really just about Senate procedures, or was it something more deliberate? Why wasn’t she consulted? Was this an attempt to assert control over a senator who has refused to play by the unspoken rules of political subservience?
When she refused to move, Akpabio ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove her, escalating the situation into an outright power struggle. A female senator forcefully removed for standing her ground is that democracy at work, or is that what suppression looks like? Would a male senator have been treated the same way?
This wasn’t the first time Akpoti-Uduaghan and Akpabio have clashed. In July 2024, during a Senate session, he told her not to speak “as if she were in a nightclub.” A nightclub? What exactly was he insinuating? That a woman speaking with conviction, authority, and defiance doesn’t belong in the Senate? That her voice, no matter how informed or firm, should be dismissed as something unserious? When men raise their voices in politics, they are called strong, decisive, and authoritative. When women do the same, they are emotional, disruptive, or, in this case, likened to someone out of place in the corridors of power. Why does the standard change when it’s a woman?
Senator Ireti Kingibe has spoken often about the uphill battle female senators face in an overwhelmingly male-dominated chamber. It took her two decades to secure a Senate seat. Why is the road to power for women so much longer, so much harder, so filled with obstacles that their male counterparts will never have to face? Why must every display of strength be met with resistance?
The fallout from this latest clash has been swift. Former Kogi governorship candidate Murtala Yakubu Ajaka publicly called for Akpabio’s resignation, branding his actions as “legislative autocracy and rascality.” His argument is simple: a Senate President who silences elected representatives especially through brute force undermines democracy itself. But is this really about democracy? Or is it about power?
Some have defended Akpabio, claiming he was merely enforcing Senate procedures and maintaining order. But if that’s the case, why did this escalate so quickly? If this were about rules, why does it feel like an exercise in control rather than governance? The question isn’t just whether Akpoti-Uduaghan violated Senate procedures the question is whether those procedures are applied fairly, or if they are just another tool used to remind women in power that they are still, in many ways, outsiders.
And then, as if to further expose the farcical nature of Nigerian politics, a Senator, on live television, referred to Akpabio as “Daddy.” Was it meant as a joke? Maybe. But what does it say about the culture of the Senate that deference not competence, not integrity determines survival? What happens to governance when lawmakers become cheerleaders? If a legislative chamber charged with shaping national policies operates on the logic of patronage, where does that leave the country?
But beyond the theatrics, beyond the insults, beyond the predictable show of power, the real question remains.Is the Nigerian Senate a space where all elected representatives, regardless of gender, are treated with equal respect? Or is it a chamber where power is wielded to remind certain people that they can be removed physically, politically, or otherwise whenever they dare to challenge the status quo?
The events of February 20 have once again brought to the forefront the need for a more equitable political environment where every senator, regardless of gender, is treated with the respect and authority their office demands.
A democracy without women is no democracy at all.
For now, the dust may settle. But the echoes of this moment will linger. Because until Nigeria answers these questions until it confronts the truth about who is truly allowed to have power this cycle will continue. Again. And again.
Stephanie Shaakaa
University of Agriculture Makurdi,
Benue State.
