Former Training Minister and ex-vice president of the World {Bank}’s Africa area, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has fiercely criticised the Nigerian authorities’s determination to arraign Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on legal defamation costs.
The case stems from Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations of sexual harassment and loss of life threats by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, prompting what Ezekwesili referred to as a “nationwide embarrassment” and an “atrocious injustice”.
In an announcement addressed to President Bola Tinubu, Ezekwesili condemned the federal government’s involvement in what she described as a “shameless saga”, accusing it of misusing energy to defend a high-ranking official from scrutiny.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the arraignment, initially scheduled for 3 June, was postponed to 19 June because of a judicial staff’ strike, based on Ezekwesili.
She alleged that the federal government secretly refiled the fees in a distinct court docket with out notifying the senator or her authorized workforce, a transfer she described as underhanded.
“Think about the horror,” Ezekwesili wrote, noting that considered one of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s attorneys found the brand new cost by probability on the day of the listening to and rushed to court docket to signify her.
Ezekwesili additional claimed that authorities prosecutors requested a bench warrant for the senator’s arrest, supported by the presence of 10 truckloads of police outdoors the courtroom.
She questioned the motives behind this “coordinated act of repression”, warning that such actions risked reworking Nigeria right into a “banana republic”.
“Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has turn out to be an emblem for hundreds of thousands of Nigerians silenced day by day for daring to talk reality to energy,” Ezekwesili stated.
She accused the political class of being able to “crush any dissent” to keep up management.
“Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan won’t stroll alone,” Ezekwesili declared, rallying assist for the embattled senator.
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