- Kogi Central lawmaker returns to Senate, declares she has ‘no apology to tender.’
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) officially resumed her legislative duties on Tuesday following the expiration of her controversial six-month suspension from the Nigerian Senate.
Her return follows a protracted legal and political standoff with the Senate leadership, which began after she was suspended in March 2025 for alleged gross misconduct, stemming from her public protest against the reassignment of her seat during plenary.
Upon her return, which included the unsealing of her office in the Senate Wing, the lawmaker maintained a defiant position, stressing that her ordeal only served to test the institution.
“It is actually amazing how much we have had to pay in the past six months, from the unjust suspension to the recall,” Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan stated, according to her legal team. “But we survived the recall, blackmail and that crazy lady on Facebook. In everything, sometimes it is good to push the institution to the test. We can’t cower in the face of injustice.”
The Senator, who had been barred from the National Assembly complex and had her salary and allowances suspended since March 6, 2025, made it clear she was not backing down from her political position. She asserted that she has “no apology to tender” to the Senate leadership upon her resumption.
Legal and Political Tussle
Although the suspension formally lapsed in September, her physical return was delayed due to the National Assembly’s annual recess and resistance from the Senate leadership. Her legal team had warned the Senate against any further attempts to block her return, insisting the lawmaker had served out the full period of her punishment.
The suspension, imposed on the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, had been the subject of a court battle. While the Federal High Court had previously declared the six-month penalty excessive and unconstitutional, another recent court ruling dismissed a suit challenging the legality of the suspension.
Despite the pending legal disputes, the unsealing of her office by the Deputy Director of the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms, Alabi Adedeji, marked her official reinstatement as the representative for Kogi Central.
