By Obinna Uballa
Tempers flared at the National Assembly on Monday as Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan staged a protest over her alleged exclusion from the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC).
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), decried what she described as a persistent curtailment of her legislative rights and privileges in the 10th Senate.
The confrontation followed her reported omission from the committee’s membership list ahead of a meeting held at the Senate on Monday.
According to sources, the senator arrived at the meeting prepared to participate in the proceedings, only to discover that her name was not listed among members officially invited.
Believing it might have been an oversight, she approached the committee secretariat to seek clarification from the clerk. She was reportedly informed that the clerk was in the office of the committee chairman, Senator Titus Tartenger Zam, prompting her to proceed there for an explanation.
Akpoti-Uduaghan arrived at the chairman’s office accompanied by some of her aides. A heated exchange reportedly followed between members of her team and aides attached to the committee chairman. Part of the incident was captured on video.
The senator later stated that she contacted the chairman, who allegedly told her that the decision was based on directives “from higher authorities,” without offering further clarification.
She described the development as part of a recurring pattern of marginalisation, stressing that all senators are constitutionally equal in status, authority and mandate.
Akpoti-Uduaghan questioned the procedural and constitutional basis for excluding her from a committee whose activities directly impact the North Central geopolitical zone, including her Kogi Central constituency.
Speaking on the altercation, she alleged that tensions escalated when aides to the committee chairman confronted her media team. According to her, about six aides, including the chairman’s secretary, seized her cinematographer’s phone and engaged in verbal hostility, an action she described as unacceptable.
The lawmaker reaffirmed her commitment to fairness, due process and institutional integrity, insisting that her protest was rooted in respect for the electoral mandate given to her by the people of Kogi Central.
She vowed to continue advocating for equitable treatment and to resist any attempt to undermine her legislative rights.
