AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
The Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Tuesday resumed duties at the National Assembly after months of suspension, describing Senate President Godswill Akpabio as a “dictator.”
Her return followed the unsealing of her office in Suite 2.05 of the Senate Wing by Alabi Adedeji, Deputy Director of the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms. “The office is hereby unsealed,” Adedeji declared in a video circulated on Tuesday.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who had been suspended since March 6, 2025, over alleged misconduct, said she owed no apologies for her actions. “We can’t cower in the face of injustice.
Senator Akpabio is not more of a senator than I am. He treated me like a servant in his house. It is so unfortunate that we will have a National Assembly being run by such a dictator,” she told reporters.
The lawmaker’s suspension stemmed from a protest she staged against the reassignment of her seat during plenary on February 20.
Though her six-month suspension lapsed in September, she was unable to resume due to legal and administrative hurdles.
On July 4, however, the Federal High Court in Abuja declared the suspension “excessive and unconstitutional,” paving the way for her return.
Expressing gratitude to her constituents and supporters, the senator praised her husband for standing by her, adding, “Sometimes it is good to push the institution to the test. No one is more Nigerian than us.”
It remains unclear if Tuesday’s development restores her full privileges, including sitting at plenary when lawmakers reconvene on October 7.
The resumption date, initially fixed for September 23, was shifted in an internal memo signed by Akpabio’s Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, who cited scheduling adjustments around Independence Day celebrations.
