Akpabio counters Kogi lawmaker’s slave treatment claim, Senate decides her fate Oct 7 

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has hailed the unsealing of the office of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Kogi Central lawmaker, who was suspended by the Senate for six months in March.

He described the development as a sign that the voice of reason has prevailed, affirming that “when we stand together, we can triumph over tyranny.”

The opposition leader said the lawmaker’s suspension, that of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as well as the alleged weaponisation of state institutions to harass and intimidate opposition voices, were not isolated acts.

According to him, these actions are deliberate moves by the current administration “to subvert our hard-earned democracy and compromise the will of the people at any cost” as the 2027 general elections draw near.

The Guardian reports that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Tuesday, returned to her office at the National Assembly, six months after she was suspended by the leadership of the upper legislative chamber.

The lawmaker accessed her office, located in Suite 2.05 of the Senate Wing, after it was reopened by the Deputy Director/Sergeant-at-Arms, Alabi Adedeji.

Although the Senate is currently on recess and is expected to resume plenary on October 7, her supporters cheered as they accompanied her from the FCT High Court, where she appeared in a case of alleged defamation filed against her by the Federal Government, to the National Assembly complex.

HOWEVER, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has denied allegations by Akpoti-Uduaghan that she was treated as a slave at the Red Chamber.
The embattled lawmaker, on Tuesday, accused Akpabio of treating her like a slave and his domestic servant while discharging her duty at the hallowed chamber.

The Kogi legislator made the fresh allegation while addressing journalists after resuming her office at the National Assembly complex. But, clearing the air, Akpabio, through his media aide, Kenny Okolugbo, described the claim as untrue. Okolugbo, who spoke on a live programme, listed some privileges enjoyed by the female lawmaker since she was inaugurated in November 2023.

According to him, “Senator Natasha was inaugurated on the 2nd of November 2023, by the 20th of November she was already made chairman, committee on local contents.

“By January 2024, she was already a member of the International Public Parliamentary Union, she was made a member of ECOWAS, she had submitted three bills and interestingly, while she was in suspension, her bill on Federal Medical Centre in Kogi State was passed into law.” He queried: “How many senators have bills that have been passed into law? So how would she now say that she was being treated as a slave?”

The media aide added that the Senate will, at resumption on October 7, decide if Akpoti-Uduaghan will resume her official duties or not.