By Ayomide Otitoju
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, on Tuesday resumed legislative duties at the National Assembly following the expiration of her six-month suspension by the Senate.
The lawmaker, who arrived at the complex with a crowd of supporters, condemned her suspension as “unjust, illegal, and an act of injustice.” She accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of running the upper chamber in a “dictatorial and unacceptable” manner, alleging that she had been treated “like a domestic staff” during the ordeal.
Speaking to journalists after regaining access to her office, Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed gratitude to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Education Minister Dr Oby Ezekwesili, human rights lawyer Femi Falana, activist Aisha Yesufu, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, the media, her husband, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and her constituents for supporting her against what she described as legislative injustice.
“It is amazing how much we had to face and survive in the last six months. We survived the recall attempts, the blockade of roads and waterways. We cannot be cowed in the face of injustice. Senator Akpabio is no more a senator than I am. He is not the governor of this place,” she said.
The senator vowed never to apologise to the Senate over the alleged misconduct that led to her suspension in March, insisting that the process was tainted with fraud.
“You can’t apologise for an injustice. The document that led to my suspension was written by the office of the Senate President, and the signatures endorsing it were not willfully appended. That makes the entire process fraudulent,” she maintained.
Her office was formally unsealed on Tuesday by a Deputy Director of the Sergeant-at-Arms, Alabi Adedeji, as seen in a video widely circulated online. The action cleared the way for her to return to her legislative duties.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, imposed over alleged misconduct following a seating arrangement dispute, had sparked widespread criticism within and outside Nigeria. A court later described the six-month sanction as “excessive” and one that undermined her ability to represent her constituency effectively.
Although the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, initially argued that she could not resume due to pending appeals in her case against the Senate, the unsealing of her office has now enabled her to resume full parliamentary functions.
