By Obinna Uballa
Tension is mounting at the National Assembly as the Senate reconvenes today (Tuesday), with Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central set to resume plenary after serving a controversial six-month suspension.
Her anticipated return has stirred unease within the red chamber, amid warnings from her legal team that any attempt to block her will throw the legislature into disarray.
Victor Giwa, one of her lawyers, insisted that the embattled lawmaker has completed her punishment and is fully entitled to reclaim her seat. “Our client should just go straight and resume on Tuesday. Anything else is mere opinion. The Senate cannot become an institution that legalises illegality,” Giwa to Punch Newspaper.
He cautioned that barring her entry would contradict the chamber’s own resolution and amount to “fanning total chaos.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended on March 6, 2025, following a heated protest against the reassignment of her seat by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Her office, located in Suite 2.05 of the Senate Wing, was sealed for months and only reopened two weeks ago by the Sergeant-at-Arms.
Upon regaining access, she launched a scathing attack on Akpabio, branding him a “dictator” and vowing never to apologise for standing her ground. “Senator Akpabio is not more of a senator than I am. He is not the governor of this place, yet he treated me like domestic staff in his house. That is unacceptable,” she declared.
The Senate had initially slated its return for September 23 but postponed resumption to October 7, stretching its recess by two weeks and halting consideration of key national issues.
With her suspension officially lapsed since September, today’s plenary is expected to be charged as all eyes focus on whether the Kogi Central lawmaker will be allowed to walk back into the chamber or be stopped at the gates.
Akpoti-Uduaghan has remained defiant, insisting she has “no apology to tender” over the events that led to her sanction. Efforts to reach Senate spokesperson Yemi Adaramodu and the media aide to the Senate President for comment proved unsuccessful.
