The Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, returned to legislative duties on Tuesday after a prolonged suspension, openly criticizing Senate President Godswill Akpabio whom she branded a “dictator.”
Her comeback followed the formal unsealing of her locked office, Suite 2.05, Senate Wing, by the Deputy Director of the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms, Alabi Adedeji. “I, Alabi Adedeji, Deputy Director, Sergeant-at-Arms, hereby unseal the office. The office is hereby unsealed. Thank you,” he declared in a short video that has since circulated widely.
Speaking shortly after resumption, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed gratitude to her constituents and family while maintaining that she had no regrets for her actions. She declared, “In retrospect, it is actually amazing how much we have had to pay in the past six months, from the unjust suspension to the recall. But we survived the recall, blackmail and that crazy lady on Facebook. It is amazing what we had to pass through, and I give God Almighty the glory and my deepest appreciation to the people of Kogi Central and Nigerians at large.”
The embattled senator, who was suspended in March 2025 for alleged misconduct, insisted that she had “no apology to tender.” Her suspension, which followed her protest against the reassignment of her seat, was later declared “excessive and unconstitutional” by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
She went further to accuse Akpabio of running the Red Chamber in an autocratic manner. “No one is more Nigerian than us. Senator Akpabio is not more of a senator than I am. He is not the governor of this place, yet he treated me as if I were a servant or domestic staff in his house. It is so unfortunate that we will have a National Assembly being run by such a dictator. It is totally unacceptable,” she stated.
Her return comes at a time when the Senate leadership has again shifted the resumption of plenary sittings from September 23 to October 7, citing adjustments to the legislative calendar. This move has triggered debate among lawmakers and political observers.
Whether Akpoti-Uduaghan will regain full privileges and sit at plenary remains unclear until sittings resume in October.
okay.ng reports that her case has become symbolic of wider debates about legislative independence, gender representation in politics, and the balance of power within Nigeria’s 10th Senate.
