The leadership of the Nigerian Senate has removed Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the country’s delegation to the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women currently taking place in New York.
The international meeting, which began on March 9 and will conclude on March 19 at the United Nations headquarters, focuses on improving access to justice for women and girls and accelerating global progress on gender equality.
As with other member states, Nigeria is expected to send a delegation to participate in discussions and negotiations that will shape the outcome of the session.
However, concerns have emerged over the composition of Nigeria’s delegation after Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of the few female senators in the National Assembly, was excluded from the final list and replaced by a male senator despite the conference focusing primarily on women’s rights and empowerment.
The issue first surfaced on February 25 during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Appropriations when the Kogi Central lawmaker complained that she had been sidelined from the delegation even though she had submitted the required documentation to participate in the event.
According to the senator, she had initially been invited by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to join Nigeria’s delegation and was asked to submit the photo page of her international passport.
She said she provided the requested information within a few hours but later received a response from the ministry stating that she would not be attending because the details were submitted late.
During the committee meeting, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Ireti Kingibe, denied that the Kogi senator had been removed from the delegation.
Kingibe explained that she had recommended Akpoti-Uduaghan to the ministry after two other female senators—Idiat Adebule and Ipalibo Banigo—indicated that they were not interested in attending the event.
Kingibe had assured Akpoti-Uduaghan that she would be included in the delegation, adding that if the Kogi senator did not attend the event, she herself would also withdraw from the trip.
Despite the earlier assurances, Akpoti-Uduaghan was eventually excluded from the final list. In a letter dated March 5 addressed to the Kogi senator, Kingibe explained that the Ministry of Women Affairs had yet to respond to the Senate’s request for sponsorship of additional delegates.
She stated that the Senate leadership had only approved two lawmakers to attend the conference: herself and Adeniyi Adegbonmire, who chairs the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
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In the letter, Kingibe apologised for any inconvenience caused and suggested that Akpoti-Uduaghan could attend the conference privately if she already had a valid United States visa.
Efforts to reach Kingibe for further clarification were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
However, a staff member of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, who spoke anonymously for fear of victimisation, alleged that the Senate leadership removed the Kogi senator due to concerns that she might raise controversial issues at the international forum that could reflect negatively on Nigeria.
Although the Senate has the authority to determine who represents the country at international events, critics have argued that replacing a female senator with a male counterpart at a conference dedicated to women’s issues does not reflect a strong commitment to gender inclusion.
The controversy has also drawn attention to the low level of female representation in Nigeria’s political leadership.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Nigeria ranks among the countries with the lowest representation of women in parliament, with women occupying fewer than five percent of seats in the National Assembly.
Advocates say the persistent underrepresentation of women in political institutions has contributed to the country’s repeated failure to pass key gender-focused legislation, including the proposed Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill and the Reserved Seats for Women Bill.