The Senate has on Tuesday dropped Kogi state lawmaker, Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, from Nigeria’s delegation to attend the United Nations women’s summit, sparking fresh controversy.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who was initially tipped to be part of the attendees of the 2026 session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was reportedly replaced by a male lawmaker, Sen. Adeniyi Adegbonmire, as the red chamber released the list of delegates to represent Nigeria at the event slated to commence next week Monday in New York, United States.
This had earlier triggered discord within the red chamber as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) lawmaker, Sen. Ireti Kinigbe, threatened to boycott the event if Akpoti-Uduaghan is excluded from the delegation.
According to reports, Kinigbe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, issued the threat during a Senate budget presentation session.
“If Senator Natasha Akpoti is not going to attend the programme, it means I am not going to attend too.” The FCT Senator was quoted to have said.
The development would also reignite public outrage as netizens slammed the Senate over the decision with some labelling it a case of oppression unfair treatment of women.
“Wow! Replacing Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan with a man at a UN Women event? Nigeria needs to do better on gender representation!”@GoldenRose0236 wrote on X.
“The exclusion of women from leadership platforms in favor of men, despite their massive population share, highlights a systemic lack of political will that continues to stall Nigeria’s progress on gender equality and urgent social reforms.”@xvela
“Nigerian politicians are always maltreating their female colleagues…every International Women’s Day, you see them writing and posting pictures as if they care about women.”@Dubem_237
“At a time when the world is pushing for more female voices in leadership, Nigeria keeps proving why it ranks so poorly in gender representation. Sometimes it feels like the country isn’t just behind, it’s proudly walking backwards.”@Tg_Moscow
“UN should have made it strictly for women let me see what they would have done.”@Blissfullnotes
“This is actually embarrassing. A global conference on women’s empowerment, and Nigeria sends a man to replace a female senator? The message this sends to the international community is loud and clearand it’s not a good one. We keep talking about gender inclusion, but the actions keep contradicting the talk”@ruchie_isaac
“Why do they keep preying on Sen Natasha And everyone is watching like it’s supposed to be You can’t tell me that they’re people in power that can’t assist put an end to this circle of bullying”@Iam_KiNGn
“Why is she being treated like a none Senator by the senate”@nwachukwusoo
“Replacing a female senator with a male counterpart for a UN Women event sends the wrong message about gender representation. If Nigeria wants to show commitment to women’s issues, it starts with who represents us.”@mr_chiboi
“Confusion everywhere… what input will a man make on matters revolving around women in society today?… from what threshold of experience will he offer suggestions from?”@Pacifick_cruise
