Senate planning my suspension – Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has alleged that the Senate leadership is planning to suspend her following a heated altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over seating arrangement in the chamber on Thursday.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the allegation while speaking in a telephone interview with Berekete Family, a human rights radio station in Abuja, on Friday.

Despite the alleged planned suspension, the senator promised to continue serving her constituents.

She said any suspension would not stop her commitment to public service.

“I know that right now they are planning my suspension. If I’m suspended, fine. It will not stop me from doing my work wherever I can. I have a number of projects in line, and I will keep serving my people. I’ll keep being a voice, and I will keep being loved by the citizens,” she said.

The alleged planned suspension is coming a day after she had a verbal clashed with the senate president in protest against the change of her seat in the chamber.

Background of the dispute

The controversy began when Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s seat was relocated within the Senate chamber.

She was moved from her original position on the second-to-last row of the minority section to the last row without her consent.

In protest, she insisted on remaining in her previous seat, an act that was seen as a violation of Senate rules.

Her refusal to comply with the sitting arrangement prompted the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, to cite Section 6(1) of the Standing Rules, which grants the senate president the authority to reassign seats when necessary.

Mr Monguno justified the seat change due to recent defections by opposition senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He warned that failing to adhere to sitting arrangements could lead to penalties, including being barred from participating in Senate discussions.

Mr Akpabio, however, upheld Mr Monguno’s ruling, denying Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan the opportunity to speak.

Despite this, she persisted, raising her hand in protest.

In response, Mr Akpabio muted her microphone and directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove her from the chamber.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s response

Speaking about the incident, the Kogi senator clarified that she acted within the Senate’s rules.

She explained that she invoked Order 10, which allows a senator to refer a matter to the ethics and privileges committee instead of facing immediate suspension.

“Yesterday, I did not speak out of order. He was grieving my suspension, and I had to invoke order 10, which is an order of privilege, which meant instead of suspending me, if you find me faulty in any area, send me to face the ethics and privileges committee. That’s what I did.

“I had to invoke that order, which was a right of every senator who felt their rights were being infringed upon. That’s what I did. If I had not done that, I would have been suspended on the floor.

She stressed on the planned suspension but maintained that it would not prevent her duties if she is eventually suspended.

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“So I had to say that to prevent the suspension at that point, but I’m aware that there are still plans underway to suspend me, and if I’m suspended, fine,” she added.

Allegations of harassment

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan also alleged that she has faced continuous harassment within the Senate and has been deliberately sidelined from key activities.

“I have faced a lot of harassment, I have been going through a lot, a lot. And I have remained quiet because I didn’t want to be interpreted wrongly, I didn’t want any lawsuits against me. I just wanted to be given a chance to work,” she said.

She claimed that many of her privileges had been revoked, including her participation in international events.

“A lot of my privileges have been denied. I have been pulled out from many international activities that I was part of. That is right after, you know, that whole nightclub incident that happened last year. Ever since then, I have been…. There was even a United Nations event I was supposed to attend, which I was invited and nominated for but my name was struck out that they will not promote me in any activity internationally,” Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan stated.

The senator added that she has been funding her international trips personally since last year, as the Senate leadership has systematically blocked her from attending any externally-sponsored events.

“So every event I have been going for since last year has been self-sponsored. Whenever I feel an international event is of importance to my constituents, to Nigerian women, to Nigeria, I buy my tickets myself and I fund my trips myself. I just don’t speak about it. So I have been going through a lot,” she said.

Regarding the seating controversy, she claimed that the relocation was a deliberate attempt to silence and alienate her.

“Yesterday was just that changing my seat was more of a chance of silencing me or alienating me from being seen. You know, sitting arrangement is very critical. The nearer you sit, it positions you closer before the camera and gives you another advantage to be called upon to contribute to the piece.

“Ordinarily, I’m already sitting at the very back. If you see me, my seat is, I’m actually sitting at the last seat just before the door. But then I was now moved suddenly without notice, without any information. My seat was moved to the far corner, a part where the cameras don’t capture. If you sit over there, the cameras can just, you won’t even be captured. Nobody will be able to accept. You will just easily be missing out. You can raise your hands up and nobody will call you,” she said.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan wondered why she was specifically targeted for the relocation.

“So that is why I said, no, I don’t want to be, I don’t want to move to that seat. I wasn’t notified. You understand, this is not a classroom. You can’t just push me around. And there are other senators. There are 109 of us, why me? Why do I have to move there? Why me?” She said.

She further revealed that she was recently removed from the Senate Committee on Local Content due to perceived biases. She claimed some lawmakers suspected she was diverting resources meant for the Niger Delta to the North.

“Just two weeks ago, I was removed from a committee on local content. I was moved from there because some people perceived that I was using that office to divert resources from the Niger Delta to the north, and that was not it.

“We have the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline which is going to be completed by the second quarter of this year, and we need gas for that. And the wake of, you know, Nigeria is now positioning itself to be more productive. Industrialisation is picking up. So the factories up north, like other parts of Nigeria, will need greater electricity supply. And now we have CNG cars, cars vehicles being converted to CNG.

“There will be a number of CNG stations across the north and other parts of Nigeria. We need feed gas to service all of these spots. And it was even the president that assented to the executive order. So how does that……Why pick him on me? ” she said.

After speaking with Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, the radio station made three unsuccessful attempts to speak with Mr Akpabio on the matter. Although the senate president picked the first call, he declined two other subsequent calls.

Implications

If the senator is eventually suspended, she would join a list of opposition senators who have faced punitive measures in the past.

Bauchi Central senator, Abdul Ningi, was suspended for three months in March 2024 for alleging that there was a budget padding of over N3 trillion in the approved 2024 budget.

Mr Ningi, a member of the PDP as Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, was however, recalled on 28 May, 2024, two months after the suspension.

It is not certain the next line of action the Senate will take against the opposition Kogi senator.