Suspension was premeditated, politically motivated – Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has described her March 6 suspension from the Nigerian Senate as a premeditated and politically motivated.

Akpoti-Uduaghan, in a media interaction last Saturday, alleged that her suspension violated her rights as a legislator and accused the Senate President of exceeding his constitutional powers.

According to the Senator, “There’s a false narrative out there suggesting I caused a disruption over my seat. That is completely untrue,” she said. “I raised a matter of privilege under Chapter 4, Item 9b of the Senate Rules—an issue that, by the rules, required immediate attention. But rather than address it, the Senate President interrupted me, ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove me, and directed the Clerk to begin drafting a suspension letter. That wasn’t a spontaneous decision—it was clearly scripted.”

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The Senator further claimed her refusal to yield to what she described as the Senate President’s “demands” intensified the situation, leading to her removal.

“He has no unilateral power to suspend a senator on the floor of the Senate. The manner in which he treated me—like an employee in his personal residence—was not only unlawful, but demeaning,” she said. “My reaction was to a decision that had already been made behind closed doors.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan also disclosed that her suspension came just a day after she submitted a formal petition against the Senate leadership.

“I believe my suspension was an act of retaliation,” she alleged; adding, “The ethics report they referenced was just a smokescreen. I filed a petition that challenged the status quo, and by the next day, I was silenced.”