Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has launched a scathing criticism of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, accusing him of turning the National Assembly into a dictatorship and treating her as though she were his “domestic staff.”<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan made the remarks shortly after resuming duties in her office, which had been sealed for six months following her controversial suspension by Senate leadership.<\/p>\n
Her return to Room 205 of the Senate Wing was made possible after security personnel and the Sergeant-at-Arms formally reopened the office. Describing the past months as a test of resilience, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she remained committed to fighting injustice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible what we\u2019ve had to endure and survive over the past six months,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything played out in full view of Nigerians\u2014from the unjust suspension to the recall process. We faced blocked roads and waterways into Kogi State and had to resort to flying in by helicopter. We even withstood a smear campaign from a so-called Facebook activist. Through it all, we survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suspended in March 2025 under controversial circumstances, the senator thanked her constituents for their unwavering support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI give glory to God Almighty and express my deepest gratitude to the good people of Kogi Central, Kogi State, and Nigerians at large,\u201d she said emotionally. \u201cTo my husband\u2014my love\u2014if you see this, I love you dearly. May all men support their wives the way you\u2019ve supported me. And to my children\u2014thank you for your sacrifices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calling her suspension \u201cillegal and unjust,\u201d Akpoti-Uduaghan said her return to office underscores the importance of holding institutions accountable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, institutions must be tested,\u201d she said. \u201cWe must not bow to injustice. No one is more Nigerian than the other. Senator Akpabio is not more of a senator than I am. He\u2019s not the governor of the National Assembly. Yet, he treated me as though I were a servant or a domestic staff in his household. It\u2019s deeply unfortunate that in this era of democracy, the National Assembly could be subjected to such autocratic control. It\u2019s completely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being shut out of plenary sessions, Akpoti-Uduaghan stressed that she continued working behind the scenes to serve her constituents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad to be back,\u201d she said. \u201cEven during my suspension, I never wavered in my commitment to the people of Kogi Central. Every day, I sought ways to bring infrastructure and projects to my constituency.\u201d<\/p>\n
While her legal team warned of possible contempt proceedings against the Senate, the Clerk maintained that the matter remained before the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n
Now back in office and with pointed criticism directed at the Senate President, Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s return is expected to rekindle tensions within the chamber\u2014where Akpabio\u2019s leadership has long been accused of intolerance and heavy-handedness by internal critics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has launched a scathing criticism of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, accusing him of turning the National Assembly into a dictatorship and treating her as though she were his “domestic staff.” Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan made the remarks shortly after resuming duties in her office, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":93061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[22,7324,60],"class_list":["post-95173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-akpabio","tag-dictatorship","tag-natasha"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}