The Peoples Democratic Party has criticised an alleged scheme by the Clerk of the National Assembly and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to prevent the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, from returning to the Senate following her six-month suspension.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party described the move as a blatant violation of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Standing Rules of the Senate, stressing that using the National Assembly’s machinery against a duly elected senator is both unlawful and provocative.
Senator Uduaghan was suspended on March 6, 2025, after the Senate adopted a committee report accusing her of insubordination for refusing to vacate her assigned seat. The suspension came with the loss of salaries, aides, and office privileges.
She, however, maintained that her suspension was politically motivated, linking it to a petition she filed against Senate President Akpabio over alleged sexual harassment, an accusation dismissed by the Senate. Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged the suspension in court and secured a judgment in her favour.
Despite the ruling, Senate leadership insisted she would serve out the full six-month penalty. In July, a dramatic standoff ensued when security operatives blocked her from re-entering the chamber, even as her supporters staged protests outside.
Her lawyer, Victor Giwa, disclosed that she was preparing to resume when the Senate reconvenes on September 23.
However, in a letter dated September 4, Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, reaffirmed that the suspension remains in effect pending a Court of Appeal judgment.
Reacting, the PDP condemned the action, calling it one of several tactics allegedly employed by the APC-led Senate and Federal Government to stifle the opposition.
The statement read, “The Peoples Democratic Party condemns in the strongest terms possible, the attempt by the Clerk of the National Assembly to bar Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming at the Senate after the unjust six months suspension imposed on her by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
“This reported action by the Clerk of the National Assembly smacks of a calculated attempt being orchestrated by the Senator Akpabio-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate leadership to abridge the right of representation of the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District and deny them a voice at the highest law-making body in the country.
“The attempt to use the National Assembly establishment against an elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in gross violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 (as amended) and the Standing Rules of the Senate is highly provocative and constitutes a clear and present danger to democracy and overall stability of our country.
“It also comes as part of the antics being deployed severally by the APC-controlled Senate and the Federal Government to suffocate the opposition which further confirms the creeping totalitarianism in our country under the APC government.”
