The Senate suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan last week, accusing her of violating its rules days after she submitted a petition against Senate President Godswill Akpabio for sexual assault and other charges. The Kogi lawmaker has now taken the case to a global level.

At the Women in Parliament session held at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting (IPU) at the United Nations in New York, Senator Natasha is seeking justice and the intervention of global democratic institutions. The lawmaker is asking for justice over what she described as injustice meted out to her.

“I was suspended illegally because I submitted a petition for sexual harassment against the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio. I thought that by submitting the petition, he would recuse himself and both of us would submit ourselves to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petition for a fair, transparent investigation. But unfortunately, I was silenced and I was suspended. That means I’m here illegally, but I have no other place to go but to come here and speak to you because this is a bigger picture. This is a bigger picture. It depicts the crisis of women’s political representation. My suspension is not just about me. It’s about the systemic exclusion of women from political leadership in Nigeria,” the Kogi lawmaker told the gathering.

After her speech, she expressed worry about her security “by powers that be” from Nigeria for speaking up on the issue. However, Senator Natasha vowed to continue the fight against “injustice.” This continues to generate debates across (and now, beyond) the country.