The Senate Committee Chairman on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Neda Imasuen, has rejected claims of gender bias in Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s recognition of senators during floor proceedings.
In an interview with Arise TV from 8:15, the Federal Lawmaker from Edo State shared his personal experience: “If I were to give you my own experience, there are many occasions that I also would complain and I do complain. There are times I raised up my hands and the Senate President does not recognize me and he recognizes someone that is behind me. And I’m wondering why is that so.”
However, he drew attention to the Senate President’s discretionary power: “He cannot entertain every individual or every Senator at a sitting who have an opinion on any matter that is on the floor. And so it is his prerogative to choose and I don’t believe that he does so because of the gender of the senators.”
Addressing allegations of inappropriate behavior, Sen. Imasuen stated: “I really do not believe that the Senate President based on what happens on the floor has made any offensive remarks to any of the female senators and I don’t think that any of the female senators have also complained about harassment against him or anybody.”
The senator described the Senate’s collegial atmosphere: “We joke a lot in the Senate and I must, I must let you know that. The Senate is a place where we all converge to discuss about the matters that affect the country but we joke as well.”
Highlighting the evolving dynamics of Senate interactions, Senator Imasuen explained that after having sat in the Senate for 4 to 6 months in the Senate, there will be some sort of familiarity where Senators even call each other by their first name. According to him, those collegial discussions cannot be seen as harassment to the females in the house.
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